Top Qatari Trainer Al-Jehani to Set Up in Newmarket for Wathnan

The Newmarket training ranks will be boosted by the addition of leading Qatari trainer Hamad Al-Jehani, who is to set up with a “small number” of horses owned by Wathnan Racing, the operation of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. 

Al-Jehani, who will continue to train in Qatar over the winter, will be based in the lower yard at Tom Clover's Kremlin House Stables. The deal has been negotiated by Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock, who has been responsible for buying a number of horses for Wathnan Racing in recent seasons, including the Gold Cup hero Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who was one of two Royal Ascot winners for the operation last season.

Now 35, Al-Jehani is a former international show jumper who was a member of the Qatari national team. He has been training since 2013 and notched his first winner in Qatar the following year. 

Having started out with three racehorses, he now has a string of 80 in Doha and is leading the Qatari trainers' championship on 53 winners, including the Qatar Guineas winner Lil' Frank (GB) (Frankel {GB}), whom he bought from the Tattersalls July Sale last year for 52,000gns. He also saddled the former John and Thady Gosden-trained Jeff Koons (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) to win the Qatar Derby in December for Wathnan Racing. 

“I am excited to have the chance to train in Newmarket,” said Al-Jehani. “It's an amazing opportunity for me to work in this historic training centre. I have been attending the sales in Newmarket for many years and have long been an admirer of the world-class facilities. I'm really looking forward to getting started.”

Olly Tait, adviser to Wathnan Racing, added, 'Hamad's had a brilliant first season training Wathnan horses in Qatar and we are delighted to be giving him this experience. Alban de Mieulle, who also trains for Wathnan in Qatar, takes a number of horses to France in the summer and had great success with [dual Listed winner] Bolthole last year. It would be wonderful if Hamad can do something similar in Newmarket.”

Al-Jehani will be assisted at Kremlin House by Tommy Allen, who  has spent the past three years assisting Classic-winning trainer George Boughey.

Boughey said, “I am obviously very sorry to lose Tommy after what has been a hugely successful three years together. But he is leaving very much with our blessing. It's a great chance for him and I've no doubt he will be an enormous asset to Hamad Al-Jehani. Henry Morshead has worked with me and Tommy for the past season and will take over his place.”

During 2023, Wathnan Racing had horses with a variety of trainers in Europe, including John and Thady Gosden, Ralph Beckett and Eve Johnson Houghton in Britain and Carlos and Yann Lerner and Christophe Ferland in France. 

 

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Greenham Stakes Return An Option For Adrian Keatley’s Ballymount Boy

Adrian Keatley is exploring the idea of stepping Ballymount Boy (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) out in trip this season.

A classy juvenile last year, Ballymount Boy was snapped up mid-season by Wathnan Racing after he finished second to unbeaten star Vandeek (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) in the G2 Richmond S. at Goodwood. 

The Greenham S. and the Craven S. have been put forward as possible targets by Keatley, who reported his charge to be raring to go for the new season. 

Keatley said, “James Doyle is going to come and sit on him next week and we will finalise plans closer to the time, but the Greenham is a possibility I think, or he could end up going to Newmarket in April.”

The trainer added, “He's a fine horse, he looks more like a seven-furlong horse or a miler this year. Last year he was built like a big, strong, sprinting two-year-old–I think he's leaner this time around and hopefully he can keep progressing from where he is now.

“We were happy to finish off the season how we did with him last year and we're hoping he can pick up where he left off.”

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Doyle to Become First Retained Rider for Wathnan Racing

Leading flat jockey James Doyle is set to become the first retained rider for Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani's Wathnan Racing beginning in January, the organisation announced on Monday. The 35-year-old had been riding as second jockey for Godolphin since January 2015 and will join Wathnan when his contract expires at the end of this year.

“It is a tremendous honour for me to sign for Wathnan,” Doyle said. “It's an amazing opportunity for me going forward with His Highness Sheikh Tamim's Wathnan Racing and I'm greatly looking forward to working with Olly Tait, Richard Brown and the rest of the team.

“I want to thank His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, Charlie Appleby and everyone at Godolphin for the unstinting support they've given me over the last nine years. It's been a wonderful time and I have enjoyed literally every moment. But this is an incredible new venture and I can't wait to get started in January.”

Doyle is a multiple Group 1-winning jockey having partnered with notable runners Kingman (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Noble Mission (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), Sea Of Class (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) over his career so far.

“James has been a key member of our team for his whole time with us and, whilst we will miss him greatly, he is leaving very much with our blessing and we wish him all the very best with this exciting new chapter in his riding career,” Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby said.

Wathnan Racing's Adviser Olly Tait added: “Wathnan is delighted to have retained the services of James Doyle. He is a fantastic rider and an incredible addition to the team. We are all looking forward to working closely with James in the coming years.”

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Wathnan Racing Flexes Buying Power By Snapping Up Dark Trooper For 500k

In a little over a year, Wathnan Racing has carved out a reputation for being an emerging ownership force, and the early signs are that the operation is here for the foreseeable future after continuing its recruitment drive by spending 500,000gns on talented sprinter Dark Trooper (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale on Wednesday. 

That purchase through Blandford Bloodstock's ace agent Richard Brown came after the team spent 750,000gns on He's A Monster (Ire) (No Nay Never) and Just Bring It (Ire) (Harry Angel {Ire}) from Alex Elliott's Imperium Sales draft on Tuesday.

The modus operandi has been simple; source quality horses, and in Dark Trooper, Wathnan Racing have secured a talented sprinter whose best days could be ahead of him still. Trained by Ed Walker, Dar Trooper has won six times and reached a rating of 104. He was last seen finishing sixth, beaten just two lengths, in a Group 3 at Ascot. 

“The idea is to buy quality over quantity, that is the message from Olly Tait to me and Ali Al Kubaisi, who is working the sale with me,” Brown said. “This horse has been on the radar for most of the year because Al Donald, who bought him and managed him, and Ed Walker, who trained him, have been trying to get me to buy him most of the year saying there is a lot more to come.”

Brown added, “He won a very competitive Ascot handicap on quick ground and then was unlucky in the Bengough. He is an interesting horse and will go to Qatar. There is a programme for him in that part of the world, but he is the sort of horse who could come back here. He is a gelding so can run on for a number of seasons. He will be trained by Alban de Mieulle and we'll see how things go.”

There was a good feeling at Park Paddocks throughout Wednesday and that extended to the figures. The average climbed 5% to 48,248gns while the median fell 2% to 23,500gns. However, the aggregate was down 12% to 11,869,000gns and the clearance rate fell 3% to 89%. 

 

Saudi Buyers Go Head-To-Head For Classy Sea The Casper

Two heavy hitters from Saudi Arabia went head-to-head for the 105-rated Sea The Casper (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) with Mubarak Al-Ruwis seeing off Najd Stud at 425,000gns.

Sea The Casper will be aimed at the Saudi Cup Carnival, according to the owner Al-Ruwis, who has a small but select string in the Gulf. 

The owner said, “He will ship straight to Saudi. We have two horses already in Saudi. We need a quality horse for the big Saudi Cup meeting. We think this horse could be a champion.”

Predictably, the Saudi investment at Tattersalls this week has been strong and Najd Stud struck earlier in the evening for Group 2 winner Jack Darcy (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}).

Trained by Paul and Oliver Cole to land the G2 Grand Prix de Deauville in August, Jack Darcy was one of the wildcards added to the sale and was drafted by Barton Sales. 

Oliver Cole said, “I think he is a Group 1 horse in the making. I would have preferred to keep him in training with us but owners have to do what they want to do.”

“We wanted to run in the Prix Dollar and he ran very well, arguably his best race, and we wildcarded him here.” 

Najd Stud also went to 170,000gns to secure Bresson (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) from Juddmonte and paid 155,000gns for Godolphin's Parchemin (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) earlier in the session. The leading Saudi buyers have added 12 horses to their haul this week to the tune of 1,483,000gns.

Royal Patronage Off To Oz

He has advertised his abilities in Britain and America but now Australia beckons for the 110-rated Royal Patronage (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) after Johnny McKeever signed for the four-year-old on behalf of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott. 

It was McKeever who lit up Park Paddocks on Tuesday evening when going to 575,000gns for Balance Play (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) out of Alex Elliott's Imperium Sales draft. 

Royal Patronage came highly recommended by his trainer Graham Motion, according to McKeever, whose total spend has now reached 1,280,000gns for the week.

He said, “We spoke to Graham Motion about the horse and he gave us a very positive report.. The horse had a few small training issues, nothing to worry about at all. 

“He is an ideal horse to go to Australia so we were confident that this is the right thing to do. It is hard to find Group form in the sale and he has got a certain quality. We are not guessing here, we know he is a pretty good horse if all goes well for him.” 

Royal Patronage has not raced since June. Prior to that, he landed an allowance race at Keeneland for the Motion team. But he is perhaps best known for showing high-class form for Mark and Charlie Johnston in Britain–for whom he landed the G2 Royal Lodge S.–before he was shipped to America. 

Juddmonte Draft Adds Intrigue

A Juddmonte draft always generates plenty of attention regardless of the sale and it was no different on Wednesday with 13 horses selling for a combined 1,368,000gns. 

The draft was headed by Halfway Line (GB) (Zoffany {Ire}), a three-time winner and listed-placed for Francis-Henri Graffard, who was knocked down to BBA Ireland online for 320,000gns.

BBA Ireland's Mick Donohoe revealed afterwards to the Tattersalls blog that the horse had been bought alongside Niall Dalton of Stakes Horses and will continue his career with trainer Phil D'Amato in America.

Donohoe said via telephone, “I have left the sale ground and so it worked well for me to bid online. The horse has been bought in conjunction with Niall Dalton of Stakes Horses to go to California and is for a new client with trainer Phil D'Amato, who has had a good bit of success training European horses.”

He added, “Halfway Line was recommended by Francois-Henri Graffard as well as Barry Mahon of Juddmonte. He should suit California-he is progressive, he goes on firm, he has a turn of foot, all the attributes you need.”

Juddmonte's Ziryab (GB) (Kingman {GB}), a winner for John and Thady Gosden, was another major attraction in the draft. The three-year-old was sold to Peter Trainor and Ciaron Maher for 240,000gns. 

Trainor said, “He goes to Ciaron Maher. Last year we bought Future History here from Juddmonte and this is the same type of horse with the same profile. Hopefully he will follow the same path and be a fun horse.”

He added, “Ziryab is well-bred and we were quite taken with his last run. He is lightly-raced and there is loads of upside with him.”

Smart Juvenile Hurdle Prospect Joins Jackdaws Castle 

Just 10 days after Mt Fugi Park (Ire) (Walk In The Park {Ire}) provided syndicate Tanzanite with its first winner from as many attempts when scoring on debut for Jonjo O'Neill at Ffos Las, the owners returned to the market to snap up smart juvenile hurdle prospect Circuit Breaker (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). 

Not only can Nathaniel get you a top-class horse on the level, as we saw with the brilliant Desert Crown and Enable, but the King George and Eclipse winner has proved he can get classy jumpers as well. 

The team at Jackdaws Castle will be hoping they have found the next Zanahiyr (Ire) after agent Matt Coleman signed for the Ralph Beckett-trained Circuit Breaker for 260,000gns on behalf of Tanzanite..

Coleman said, “He is going to Jackdaws and we had an order to look for a juvenile hurdle horse. This is a big fantastic-looking horse by Nathaniel. He looks like a National Hunt horse. Ralph [Beckett] was very complimentary about the horse and is extremely pleased with how well he has done on the Flat considering his size. He won on debut and ran second to Urban Outlook (GB) (Cityscape {GB}) [who made 280,000gns to Domeland] last time.”

The Tanzanite team can count themselves lucky to have come away with Circuit Breaker as, just when the hammer was about to fall, Harold Kirk tried to throw in one last bid. Alas, it was too late and the principal buyer for Ireland's champion National Hunt trainer Willie Mullins was forced to fill the role of the underbidder.

Mt Fugi Park was sourced by Coleman at the Tattersalls Cheltenham February Sale for £290,000 after he won his point-to-point for trainer Donnchadh Doyle.

Coleman continued, “We were really pleased with Mt Fugi Park. The syndicate has two horses and they are both real out-and-out National Hunt types. For instance, Mt Fugi Park is very much a staying chaser of the future, and that's why we wanted to get something here with possibly a bit more speed.” 

That wasn't the only Beckett-trained gelding to be received well by the market as the previous lot, Campaign Trail (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), was sold to Ed Bailey Bloodstock and Peter Kerr Syndicates for 200,000gns. Both horses were consigned by Jamie Railton.

Buy of the day

Wednesday's buy of the day is something of a collaborative effort as the Racing Post's James Thomas made a strong case for Gaiden (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) to be given the nod. 

Trained by Richard Hannon, Gaiden was well-fancied and sent off as the 3-1 favourite to win on debut over the minimum trip at Windsor back in April. 

If connections had come away from that effort with any disappointment that would have soon dissipated with what the winner, Relief Rally (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), went on to achieve. 

Sadly, Gaiden hasn't followed a similar trajectory. She followed up on that effort with a rock-solid third in a listed contest at York, bagging valuable black-type in the process, but has been well-beaten in her three subsequent starts. 

Gaiden was knocked down to the Gaiden Partners for 32,000gns on Wednesday and she may well represent a bit of value. Even if she were never to set foot on a racecourse again, she has achieved black-type without winning and is by one of the sexiest stallions in the game. She looks well-bought. 

Away from Gaiden, Eastmore (GB) (Awtaad {Ire}) could look well-bought by Charles Byrnes at 80,000gns. Placed in all three of his maidens for legendary trainer Kevin Prendergast in Ireland, he has been snapped up by one of the shrewdest dual-purpose handlers in the business and looks an ideal type to go down that route.

Thought for the day

Is it just me or is this the first year in a while where the National Hunt trainers have been able to play on the higher-rated juvenile hurdle prospects?

In previous years, even the top operators were being blown out of the water by international buyers for the three-year-olds who stayed 10f and beyond. 

This week, we've had Jonjo O'Neill buy the 89-rated Circuit Breaker for 260,000gns while Ed Bailey landed Campaign Trail for 200,000gns. At a lower end, we saw Charles Byrnes secure a nice horse for 80,000gns while Gordon Elliott has added five to his team over the past few days.

There has been a dearth of collective talent in the two-mile hurdling division in recent years and this week's results can only be a positive with a view towards providing the sphere with a much-needed shot in the arm.

There are few things as exciting as a Champion Hurdler at full cry. Think of that golden era of Hardy Eustace, Brave Inca, Harchibald and Mac's Joy. 

We have been starved of such competition in recent years over hurdles but, who knows, the first signs of this avenue being reopened to the jumps handers were apparent at Tattersalls this week. Who knows, we could be writing about Circuit Breaker or Campaign Trail by the time Cheltenham rolls around.

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