Tag: Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah

Haatem A Black-Type First For Phoenix Of Spain In Goodwood’s Vintage

Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah's Haatem (Ire) (Phoenix Of Spain {Ire}–Hard Walnut {Ire}, by Cape Cross {Ire}) was the most experienced of nine contenders lining up for Tuesday's G2 Nicholson Gin Vintage S. at Goodwood and paid a handsome compliment to his G2 Superlative S. conqueror City Of Troy (Justify) with a game success in the seven-furlong test. The March-foaled bay becomes the first stakes winner for freshman sire Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire) and a first winner of the contest for Richard Hannon, whose father Richard senior collected five editions.

The 9-4 favourite was positioned within range of the leaders in a handy fifth after a slick getaway. Making smooth progress once into the straight, he was ridden to seize control approaching the final furlong and kept on strongly under a drive to withstand the late threat of Iberian (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) by a length. Ballydoyle representative Mountain Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) threatened out wide passing the furlong pole and ran on well to finish a neck further adrift in third.

“Haatem is a lovely horse, he deserved that after running so well in the Coventry and the Superlative and I am very pleased,” said Hannon. “I thought this was his day and could be his Derby, but he will get better as the year goes on. He is a horse big enough for next year and is not just about being a 2-year-old. He is a Group 2 winner now, so obviously we will have to look at Group 1 races, but he is getting better. He has to improve to take on the real big guys, but he is doing that with every run.”

Winning rider Sean Level added, “On paper, Haatem deserved to win this. For a big horse, he hasn't missed any dances and he's been unlucky to run into a couple of exceptional horses without getting his head in front. He ran into an exceptional horse of Mr O'Brien's last time, his form stood out today and I would have been disappointed if he did get beaten. He is a big horse with plenty of scope who will keep improving. It is a sharp track here and, as much as he has a classy way of travelling, I did feel he was a bit workmanlike through the line. He gave the impression that going up to a mile might get a little bit more out of him. He doesn't have anything else to prove this year, but we'll proceed with time in mind. With a winter on him, he could be anything next year.”

The runner-up's trainer Charlie Hills commented, “Iberian is a really nice horse and William [Buick] was very impressed by him. Obviously being drawn nine, he had to be patient with him and he has run a great race. I think we'll probably look at the [G2] Champagne S. and, if he goes well there, the [G1] Dewhurst. That softer surface probably blunted the speed out of him. He had them covered, but when William asked he just floundered a little bit on the [good-to-soft] going. I am pleased he stepped up to show us that he's up to this level.”

Pedigree Notes
Haatem, who had previously run fifth in Royal Ascot's G2 Coventry S., is the fifth of six foals and one of three scorers out of a dual-winning half-sister to G3 Premio Carlo Vittadini and G3 Premio del Giubileo runner-up Father Frost (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}) and Listed Prix Pelleas, Listed Doncaster Mile and Listed Foundation S. placegetter Born To Be Alive (Ire) (Born To Sea {Ire}). His second dam Yaria (Ire) (Danehill), herself a daughter of G1 Phoenix S. runner-up Yara (Ire) (Sri Pekan), is a winning sibling of dual stakes scorer Emirates Gold (Ire) (Royal Applause {GB}), Listed Prix Melisande victrix Yarastar (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and the stakes-placed Yario (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). Haatem, half-brother to a weanling filly by Inns Of Court (Ire), hails from the family of G1SW sires Homme De Loi (Ire) (Law Society) and Mister Majestic (Ire) (Tumble Wind).

 

Tuesday, Goodwood, Britain
NICHOLSON GIN VINTAGE S.-G2, £175,000, Goodwood, 8-1, 2yo, 7fT, 1:30.15, g/s.
1–HAATEM (IRE), 129, c, 2, by Phoenix Of Spain (Ire)
1st Dam: Hard Walnut (Ire), by Cape Cross (Ire)
2nd Dam: Yaria (Ire), by Danehill
3rd Dam: Yara (Ire), by Sri Pekan
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. (€28,000 RNA Wlg '21 GOFNO1; 27,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT). O-Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah; B-Hyde Park Stud (IRE); T-Richard Hannon; J-Sean Levey. £99,243. Lifetime Record: 6-2-1-2, $183,318. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Iberian (Ire), 129, c, 2, Lope De Vega (Ire)–Bella Estrella (Ire), by High Chaparral (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (200,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT). O-Teme Valley & Ballylinch Stud; B-Ballylinch Stud (IRE); T-Charles Hills. £37,625.
3–Mountain Bear (Ire), 129, c, 2, No Nay Never–Holy Alliance (Ire), by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O-Mrs J Magnier, M Tabor & D Smith; B-Whisperview Trading Ltd (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. £18,830.
Margins: 1, NK, HF. Odds: 2.25, 3.33, 11.00.
Also Ran: Golden Mind (Ire), Son (GB), Witness Stand (GB), Soldier's Gold (Ire), Thunder Blue (GB), Spanish Phoenix (Ire).

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Mehmas Colt A New TDN Rising Star At Ripon

Ripon's Sunday card threw up a surprise as the George Boughey-trained Asadna (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}–Looks Great {GB}, by New Approach {Ire}) stormed to TDN Rising Star status in the six-furlong novice. Held up initially by William Buick, the 4-1 shot cruised to the front two out and strode further clear with distance to record a staggering 12-length debut success. Fellow newcomer Fifty Grand Slater (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) was the one closest to Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah's 160,000gns Tatts Craven Breeze-Up graduate, with Jesmond Dawn (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) a further four lengths behind. Providing context to the form, the fourth-placed 11-10 favourite Valadero (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), who had been second in Doncaster's Brocklesby in March, was beaten a total of 16 1/2 lengths.

 

Connections are heading to the G2 Coventry S. next month with the outlandish winner, who recorded a time nearly a second faster than the dual listed scorer Shouldvebeenaring (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) did on ground officially faster in this 12 months ago.

Pedigree Notes

The dam, who also has a yearling filly by Belardo (Ire), was unraced for Godolphin before being sold for 10,000gns at the 2016 Tatts July Sale. She is out of the similarly-unraced Danehill Dreamer (Danehill), a half to the G1 Eclipse S. hero Compton Admiral (GB) (Suave Dancer), the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. hero Summoner (GB) (Inchinor {GB}) and to the G2 Ribblesdale S. runner-up Twyla Tharp (Ire) (Sadler's Wells). She in turn produced the excellent The Fugue (GB) (Dansili {GB}), heroine of the G1 Prince of Wales's S., G1 Yorkshire Oaks, G1 Nassau S. and G1 Irish Champion S.

2nd-Ripon, £10,000, Novice, 5-21, 2yo, 6fT, 1:10.87, gd.
ASADNA (IRE), c, 2, by Mehmas (Ire)
     1st Dam: Looks Great (GB), by New Approach (Ire)
     2nd Dam: Danehill Dreamer, by Danehill
     3rd Dam: Sumoto (GB), by Mtoto (GB)
(€62,000 Ylg '22 TATIRY; 160,000gns 2yo '23 TATBRE). Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $6,515. O-Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah; B-Aughamore Stud (IRE); T-George Boughey. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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Al Dasim Giving Boughey ‘Quoz’ For Optimism

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — From the very beginning, young trainer George Boughey has made one thing quite clear–when the opportunity presents, he wants to travel horses to play the game on the international stage at the very highest level.

At this time last year, Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah's Al Dasim (Ire) (Harry Angel {Ire}) was about a month away from making an early-season debut; twelve months on from that somewhat disappointing fifth when favoured in a five-furlong maiden at Leicester, the chestnut colt will be one of the choices to give Boughey a victory at one of the world's greatest and richest race meetings in Saturday's $1.5-million G1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan.

“It's great. I've been pretty outspoken about the fact that this is what we want to be doing,” Boughey said. “The UK is very much our base, but if we want to be running horses, we'll span the world when we can. I've got a super team of guys who take the horses wherever they go. The horse makes the job very easy, but to have runners around the world, you have to have enormous trust in your staff for doing the job that you asked them to do. And I have that so I'm hugely grateful for that.”

Boughey Steps In

Boughey is at least equally thankful that he was given the chance to take over the training of Al Dasim, bred by Skymarc Farm and a £50,000 purchase by Sheikh Abdullah from the draft of Tony O'Reilly's Hollyhill Stud at the 2021 Goffs UK Premier & Silver Yearlings Sale.

The chestnut, whose third calendar birthday doesn't come until Apr. 11, was runner-up in a Salisbury novice event in two starts for Clive Cox and graduated a couple of runs later in a Windsor maiden after being transferred to Kevin Philippart de Foy. He was turned over to Boughey after finishing unplaced in the Listed Prix de la Vallee d'Auge at Deauville last August.

“I'd trained for Sheikh Abdullah before and we were lucky enough to be the recipient of a handful of horses and he was one of them,” said the conditioner, who has about 10 horses for Sheikh Abdullah. “[Sheikh Abdullah]'s got a string of horses out in Saudi Arabia at the moment, obviously not far away from his local Kuwait.”

Runner-up in a nursery handicap at Haydock in his first appearance for Boughey last September, Al Dasim took a pair of starts back-to-back over the Wolverhampton all-weather, including a November novice with a whopping 144 pounds on his back, and the stage was set to broaden his horizons.

“It's been a plan for [Sheikh Abdullah] for a long time to try and have some horses in Dubai,” Boughey said. “When he came to me, for me, I thought he was a fast-ground horse. He'd been tried on slower ground before and I was pretty keen that if he did show enough ability, that we'd take him to Dubai. So it was later on in the year, but he needed to prove to me that he was good enough to be a horse who was going to be competitive. I wasn't going to take him unless he was. And he's very good. He won under a double penalty at Wolverhampton. I just wanted to go and see him carry a big weight and try and win well and he did exactly that. Just before that race, [Dubai] was the plan, and then obviously it came to fruition when he won.”

Hitting The Road

Dubai is not for every horse, but Al Dasim has actually come on for his time in the Emirates, Boughey suggests.

“Yeah, he's done very well,” he said. “Ryan King, my sort of head man out there, he's been in charge of him and he's been riding him every day. He's a horse who was a little bit fractious when we first got him, and he seems to be relaxing each week. I thought at the time that we had him in a good mental state and that he'd be able to handle training on the track. And actually, I think, having seen him train out there, I think he's almost thrived for it. He's actually done a lot of work on the dirt, and I'm not saying he's going to run on the dirt immediately, but it would be no surprise if he did end up in Dubai next year. Then we might try him on the dirt as well as the turf.”

For now, it's been the lush Meydan grass where Al Dasim has made a name for himself. Taking full advantage of the opportunity to face his peers early during the Dubai World Cup Carnival, he ran strong times in winning conditions events in January and February over the straight six furlongs, which came as little surprise to his connections.

“On just official ratings alone, he looked liked he was clear of certainly the colts out there in the sprint division,” said Boughey. “So as long as we could have him in good condition as well, then I thought he'd be a horse who'd be very hard to beat out there, having seen the pool of horses he was going to run against. But I didn't really ever…you know, obviously the programme is Super Saturday and the Al Quoz was obviously there. But he's certainly had to go and prove his merit to be in the race and he certainly did that.”

A Super Saturday Star

It is one thing to go and beat up on your peers, it's an entirely different ball of wax stepping a 3-year-old up to tackle older rivals as early as March. But Al Dasim did just that last time in the G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint. Drawn low on the oft-disadvantageous far side, he nevertheless raced prominently, took over from pacesetting Miqyaas (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB})–previously winner of the G2 Blue Point Sprint S. over the minimum trip–and went on to score by 2 1/4 lengths beneath Mickael Barzalona.

“I think the speed that they go in the older races is very different,” said Boughey. “The tempo of race is different to what he's ever encountered before. And as a horse whose traveled very well against his own age and I did hope that he would step up, and it was nice to see him do it. But he was taking on some 6-, 7-,8-year-old sprinters who are hardened, good performers. Obviously it will be a massive step up again on World Cup night, but I've got no reason to suggest that he's out of place and he goes there in great shape.”

Boughey is taking it race-by-race with Al Dasim, but has a plan in mind for the near to mid-term, with the G1 Commonwealth Cup back against 3-year-olds at Royal Ascot in June the likeliest target.

“He'll probably get an entry in the [G1] King's Stand [S.] as well, being open to 3-year-olds, whereas the [G1] Platinum Jubilee S. isn't,” the trainer said. “Ascot I think is almost tailor-made for him, you know? It's a faster track on the flat track than at Meydan. I think that stiff finish will suit him well and you can ride him for a turn of foot. He's entered in the [G1 2000] Guineas at Newmarket, but at this stage I'd be very surprised if he's stepping up to the mile. He's showing a lot of pace from the get-go, he's an old-school winner over the minimum trip of five furlongs and being by Harry Angel, I don't see any reason to stretch him at this stage.”

George Boughey is clearly excited about the challenge that awaits around a quarter past five local time Saturday.

“I'm looking forward to it and it's a pretty special place, Meydan. I'm looking forward to seeing it full of people,” he said.

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Caravaggio Colt Tops Second Day Of Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale

The Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale continued in robust fashion during the second and final session with a son of Caravaggio lighting up the sale ring when selling for 240,000 guineas. The clearance rate remained a feature of the sale, finishing on 88 percent, whilst the turnover of 10,408,500 guineas was the fourth highest for the sale since 2008.

SackvilleDonald's Alastair Donald secured the attractive colt by first-season sire Caravaggio for 240,000 guineas after seeing off the efforts of Irish trainer Michael O'Callaghan. The son of the Galileo mare Bright Sapphire is a half-brother to the group-placed colt Wall of Fire.

“He is for a new Hong Kong client, he will go out to Hong Kong at the end of the season,” revealed Donald. “He will be pre-trained in England, he is a lovely big horse and he has a nice pedigree. He breezed well for a big horse and looks the type to do well in Hong Kong.”

Donald added: “They don't race until they are 3-year-olds, so don't want a 'here and now' horse. The sire looks like he has got a very nice 2-year-old already and this is the first I have bought by the sire. I did like the yearlings – they are particularly good walkers, and this horse's movement is very good.”

The colt was sold by Yeomanstown Stud, who bought the colt at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale for 155,000 guineas. Yeomanstown Stud's David O'Callaghan commented;

“He is a beautiful colt, he breezed really well and has a great attitude. We're very pleased, he was always a lovely horse and he hasn't missed a day.”

Kuwaiti buyer Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah bought the second highest priced lot for the day when going to 185,000 guineas to secure the Union Rags colt out of Careless Jewel. Named Tattered Flag, the February born colt was bought last September by Tom Whitehead of Powerstown Stud for $115,000 and was part of a three-horse draft that included lot 90, a colt by the fellow U.S.-based sire Practical Joke. He made 140,000 guineas and was bought by trainer Michael O'Callaghan.

“I am very pleased,” said Whitehead. “They are two nice horses, and the Union Rags will be a lovely horse later in the year.”

Whitehead's 2020 buying mission took place during the real depths of the COVID pandemic with travel restrictions and problems, but he is now obviously delighted that he managed to make the journey stateside;

“It was touch and go whether we'd get to the U.S. last year. That has been a great start, but we are only halfway there – we've another seven or eight to sell”

At the conclusion of the 2021 Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony commented;

“We introduced the £250,000 Craven Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus this year, in addition to the lucrative £15,000 Craven Breeze Up Bonus and it is clear that owners have embraced these unprecedented bonuses. We have seen solid and diverse demand at all levels of the market from start to finish which has produced the best Craven Breeze Up clearance rate since 2000 and key indicators which have held up well, especially when taken in the context of the COVID – related challenges and restrictions which we are all still grappling with and which continue to hinder international travel.

“Nevertheless, to hear consistently positive feedback from owners, trainers, agents and consignors about the bonuses has been gratifying, and reinforces our commitment to exploring as many innovative ways as possible to reward owners who buy at Tattersalls with extra prize money. There is no doubt that we will see plenty of this crop of Craven Breeze Up graduates performing at a high level and it would be even more pleasing than usual if the Royal Ascot and Group 1 bonuses were won in the coming months.

“Despite the prolonged difficulties with international travel, overseas buyers have again demonstrated their appetite for high class Tattersalls breeze up 2-year-olds. Buyers from America, Bahrain, Dubai, France, Italy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Singapore have all been active, many of them using the live internet bidding platform, and as well as paying tribute to the consignors who have as ever presented an outstanding collection of two year olds, we must again commend everyone for their patience with the regulations and determination to overcome the obstacles we continue to face. We are still having to conduct sales under strict guidelines, but as well as looking forward to the forthcoming Guineas Breeze Up and Horses in Training Sale, we are also looking forward to returning to more normality in the not too distant future.”

The next chance to buy a 'breezer' at Tattersalls is at the Guineas Breeze Up and Horses in Training Sale which takes place from April 28-30, with all lots breezing on the Rowley Mile at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 28 before the sale on Friday, April 30.

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