Al Sagar Bullish On Nashwa, Who Will Return Next Year

Veteran owner/breeder Imad Al Sagar is hoping for a positive run from his dual Group 1 winner Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the GI Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Keeneland on Saturday. They bay, who was third in the G1 Cazoo Oaks prior to taking the G1 Prix de Diane in June and the G1 Nassau S. in July, enters the 1 3/16-mile race on the back of a good second-place run in the G1 Prix de l'Opera in October. She will leave from stall three with regular rider Hollie Doyle in the irons.

“I think the distance at the Breeders' Cup will suit her very much,” Al Sagar said. “Nashwa has a very strong cruising speed and a good turn of foot. She demonstrated her speed at Haydock over 1-mile in April, so this trip will suit her and so will the track at Keeneland. I have had two runners previously at the Breeders' Cup. Araafa (Ire) at Churchill Downs in 2006 and Decorated Knight (GB) at Del Mar in 2017. I would go through the roof if Nashwa were to win at the Breeders' Cup. It would make me very happy.”

Of his retained rider Hollie Doyle, who won her first Classic aboard Nashwa in the Diane, he said, “It is a dream for any jockey to win a Classic, so for Hollie to achieve that at 25 made me very happy and proud. Her discipline and love for her job is what makes her so good. Hollie is a very dedicated jockey, and she is very disciplined from all angles, and she loves her job. She is a very positive person. She looks at the positive side of everything and is always looking forward to her next ride. That eagerness for success has paid off.”

The John and Thady Gosden trainee has made all bar one of her seven starts this season, and she will remain in training in 2023.

He added, “I have decided to keep Nashwa in training as a 4-year-old. I think she will be a better filly at four. The whole family thrive with age, and I think she will be stronger next year. We are excited that Blue Diamond Stud will soon have a full sister to Nashwa, with Nashwa's dam Princess Loulou (Ire) currently in foal to Frankel with a filly.”