Sheikh Joaan Al Thani | Horse Racing Free Tips

Jean-Claude Rouget is not prone to hyperbole so, when the decorated French handler compared the unexposed Al Hakeem (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) to his only G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) earlier this week, some people did a double take.

Not Benoit Jeffroy, who manages Haras de Bouquetot on behalf of the Al Shaqab operation. Jeffroy has long been aware of the standing in which the multiple Classic-winning trainer has held Al Hakeem and, when the colt won the Listed Prix de Suresnes at Chantilly on Tuesday, he wasn't one bit surprised that Rouget told the French press that 'he reminds me a lot of Sottsass'.

“Jean-Claude is a straight-talking man and he says what he thinks. It was no surprise to us to hear what he said about Al Hakeem because he always told us that the horse was a colt with a lot of ability, he just needed to show it on the track,” Jeffroy explained.

High praise indeed for a horse who has graced the track just four times, winning three of those starts, with Tuesday's Chantilly victory a personal best by some way.

However, Jeffroy is predicting that Rouget's bold comparison between Sottsass and Al Hakeem can become evident to everyone when the highly progressive colt tackles the G1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly on June 5.

“Who knows, maybe after the French Derby we can really start comparing him to Sottsass, let's wait and see,” he said.

“He is a great physical and, the fact that he showed what he could do at Chantilly the other day is very exciting with a view towards the French Derby.”

Jeffroy added, “There are a lot of similarities between Al Hakeem and Sottsass. They are by the same sire and have the same broodmare sire in Galileo (Ire).

“But the way this horse has been training, that's what reminds Jean-Claude most of Sottsass, as his work has been very good.

“Even as a 2-year-old, Jean Claude said that this might be the next Sottsass, the way he was training and behaving at home. Let's hope he is.”

It is that Siyouni cross with Galileo mares that not only produced one high-class colt in Sottsass but also St Mark's Basilica (Ire), hailed by Aidan O'Brien as 'possibly the best horse we've ever had at Ballydoyle,' after he scooped the prize for Horse of the Year at the 31st annual Cartier Racing Awards.

It may well be written in the stars for Al Hakeem but the comparables to Sottsass don't end with his pedigree. His dam, Jadhaba (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who showed classy form for Rouget before her career was cut short after she suffered a setback, was purchased by Al Shaqab for €620,000 at Arqana in 2014 from Ecurie des Monceaux, who also produced Sottsass.

“Jadhaba is a Galileo mare and, when it came to mating her, we felt that she needed a bit of speed, which is why we went to Siyouni,” he said.

“We thought the cross might work well and, not long afterwards, along came Sottsass and St Mark's Basilica, on the exact same cross. It just made a lot of sense.

“Galileo (Ire) crossed with Danehill has worked really well, as has Galileo and Pivotal, and she has got both. Hopefully Al Hakeem can be the third top-class colt from this cross.”

He added, “Jadhaba was in training with Jean-Claude as well. She was highly regarded and won twice as a 2-year-old and, after finishing third in a Group 3 on her only start at three, she developed a little issue so we had to stop. But she seems to have passed on a lot of her ability.”

If Al Hakeem can come good on Rouget's praise, it will stand the Al Shaqab operation in good stead for the future as she has a Siyouni filly at foot and is back in foal to the sire.

“Her first colt, Dahiya (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), won for Andre Fabre and Al Hakeem is only her second produce,” said Jeffroy of the broodmare.

“She also has a lovely Kingman (GB) filly in training with Jean-Claude, a very good looking Siyouni filly foal at foot and she is back in foal to Siyouni, so she could be an exciting young mare for us. She also has a Shalaa (Ire) yearling filly that is very similar to Jadhaba, a nice filly with good depth.

“Sheikh Joaan al Thani deserves it. He is passionate about the game and has invested a lot of money into it. He deserves to have bred a good one as a reward for all his investment.”

New dreams abound for a team that will forever be associated with Treve (Fr) (Motivator {GB}), who carried the colours of Al Shaqab Racing en route to recording back-to-back Arcs in 2014.

Given Al Hakeem is being compared to another Arc winner in Sottsass, it seems fitting to ask if the mind has been allowed to wander as far as the great race on Oct. 1.

“No, step by step,” Jeffroy laughed. “The Arc is an important race and of course it's in the back of our minds but let's take it race by race and hopefully–hopefully it takes him one year less than it did for Sottsass!”

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Since Al Shaqab Racing's first foray into racehorse ownership, the organization has grown exponentially with strong investment in bloodstock globally. The company has built an impressive stud farm at Haras de Bouquetot, which houses its nine-strong stallion roster as well as playing host to a broodmare band that includes dual G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Treve (Fr) (Motivator {GB}) and multiple Group 1 winner Qemah (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) to name a few. However, it may be Al Shaqab's investment in personnel that sees the company thrive and prosper for many years to come. Among the list of industry professionals that help Sheikh Joann achieve the goals set for his silver and maroon silks is new recruit Paul Hensey, who started as Chief Operating Officer for the company in July of 2020.

“Just before the very first lockdown last year we more or less agreed that I was going to move to Al Shaqab,” said Hensey on how his position came about. Starting with any company usually involves a transition period of getting to know the team and in the case of Al Shaqab it would involve travel, as the operation has entities in five different countries around the world. Naturally, trying to do this in a global pandemic made things a little more difficult for Hensey.

“It is going very well given the difficult year,” he said. “Al Shaqab is such a big international operation, with entities in France, the UK, Ireland, Australia and America, so from my point of view we have been trying to manage where I'm going so I can quarantine. I've managed quite well to get around to meet everybody. We've managed to keep in touch with Zoom calls, emails and telephone calls. It's been a challenge, but it's been good.”

While there is no denying that 2020 posed many challenges globally, Hensey's extensive experience in the Thoroughbred industry has doubtless stood him in good stead to hit the ground running in his new guise. A graduate of the Irish National Stud Thoroughbred Breeding Course, Hensey spent 14 years at the helm of The Curragh Racecourse, a period in his career that he remembers as being “a great, great time,” before helping to found and build Rifa Mustang's European operation.

“When I left the Curragh Racecourse, Rifa approached me to do some work for them on a consultancy basis,” recalls Hensey. “They already had an operation in Australia and they were exploring options in Europe. I joined them full time as the European CEO.”

Although the decision to join Al Shaqab meant a huge opportunity for Hensey, it is understandable that leaving Rifa wasn't an easy decision.

“It was close to my heart because I had been involved in it from the very start,” he said. “But, obviously when Al Shaqab came along it was a huge opportunity. When I met Sheikh Joaan Al Thani last February, it became very clear to me that he certainly had great enthusiasm and great ambition for Al Shaqab. He wanted to get it back to where it had been. Hopefully I can play a part and help them along the road.”

The part Hensey hopes to execute for Al Shaqab will be to see the operation return to the glory days of its early successes which included Treve, Olympic Glory (Ire) and Toronado (Ire), the latter two standing as stallions for the operation. Joining the existing horses in training carried over from 2020 will be roughly 90 2-year-olds that are a combination of homebreds and horses bought at the sales, as “Al Shaqab was very active at the yearling sales.”

While there is every hope that 2021 will welcome many more high-class performances on the racetrack, it would be remiss not to look back on the success of a stallion Al Shaqab stands in partnership with Tally Ho Stud. “[Mehmas] was fantastic. I think everybody expected him to get lots of winners but I don't think anybody really expected the quality that has come through,” Hensey said. “Tally Ho have done a fantastic job with him.”

With Mehmas having earned the crown as champion first-season sire in 2020, the operation will be hoping one of their four stallions with first 2-year-olds this year will be able to make a similar impression.

“We have Al Wukair (Ire), who is a really classy horse,” Hensey said. “He was a Group 1 winner over a mile. Then there is Ectot (GB) and Zelzal (Fr), who are both Group 1 winners over a mile too. Then Galileo Gold (GB) is a stablemate of Mehmas at Tally Ho. We have big hopes for him as well.”

Joining the stallion roster at Haras de Bouquetot for the forthcoming season are Wooded (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). The former carried Al Shaqab's silks to victory in the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye and provides breeders with an opportunity to visit the Wootton Bassett line after that sire's departure from France.

“With Wootton Bassett going to Coolmore, we thought long and hard about whether we would keep [Wooded] in training or not. But we felt that if there was ever a year to retire a son of Wootton Bassett in France this was it,” said Hensey.

With the wheels in motion, 2021 could see Sheikh Joaan's ambitions being met for Al Shaqab. Speaking with Hensey there seems to be a real buoyancy about the future for the operation with the established teams having already laid an excellent road map for success. As COO, Hensey needs to ensure smooth passage. Given his capability and personable nature, it seems that Al Shaqab is set for a straight line to success.

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