Seven Days: A New Force Emerges at Ascot

Pack away your hats and spend a joyful week in jeans and trainers. Royal Ascot was fabulous, as it always is. Though we may have tipped into the meeting being padded with too many handicaps, the results throughout the five days provided plenty of great storylines, even beyond the headline-hogger that is Frankie Dettori. 

Unquestionably, though, the best race anywhere in the world in the last week came at Hanshin on Sunday. In the Takarazuka Kinen, Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) ran the kind of race that few horses can get away with, making his move when nine wide on the turn, but then few horses have his boundless talent. In these parts we will have to console ourselves by watching him on screen rather than in person, but even if Japanese runners couldn't be persuaded to Ascot this year, there was still plenty of international participation to savour. 

Owners from 11 different countries celebrated success at the meeting, including Japan's Tohsihiro Matsumoto, whose Duke of Edinburgh H. winner Okita Soushi (Ire), trained in the increasingly international stable of Joseph O'Brien, was one of two Ascot winners for his trainer, as he was for his sire, the late Galileo (Ire). Though there was no joy for the Australian horses who had travelled, Australia was represented by Terry Henderson's OTI Racing, owner of Docklands (GB) (Maassaat {Ire}), who gave Harry Eustace his second Royal Ascot winner in just two years as a trainer.

Docklands was ridden by Hayley Turner, who in 2019 became only the second woman to ride a winner at the royal meeting after Gay Kelleway. Times are a-changing so fast that only four years later it barely counts as news to say that Hollie Doyle rode three winners at the same meeting, all trained by her main boss Archie Watson, and was third in the jockey rankings behind Ryan Moore and Dettori. Doyle may have outshone her husband Tom Marquand, but he had a memorable day of his own on Thursday when riding a double, the highlight of which was providing the King and Queen with their first Royal Ascot winner in the William Haggas-trained Desert Hero (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).

Driven to Success 

The feisty little homegrown hero Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) was one of the feelgood stories of the week in the G2 Hardwicke S. on his first start in 11 months, along with that of Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Fr}), who came from a long last to first when blasting past favourite Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) to take the G1 Commonwealth Cup for Julie Camacho and Steve Brown.

Pyledriver should return to Ascot next month in an attempt to defend his King George title, and there he could meet his fellow Coronation Cup winners Hukum (GB) and Emily Upjohn (GB), not to mention up to three Derby winners.

No fewer than four of the Royal Ascot winners had American owners. Wesley Ward would probably admit to having had a meeting to forget but he remains the most successful overseas trainer with 12 winners to his credit. Flying the flag for the USA was his colleague George Weaver with the demure Crimson Advocate (Nyquist). The filly was one of two juveniles he brought to the meeting but not the one who was sold for £800,000 on the eve of Royal Ascot at the Goffs London Sale. That was No Nay Mets (Ire) (No Nay Never), who finished ninth in the G2 Norfolk S.

The sale-topper, incidentally, Givemethebeatboys (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {Ire}), who was bought for £1.1 million by the Sands family's Bronsan Racing, wasn't beaten far when fourth in the G2 Coventry S. less than 24 hours after he changed hands.

Trading is an ever more ubiquitous element of the racing game these days, with an actual sale, an online sale, or a pop-up sale happening almost every week of the year, along with frequent private transactions.

The Coventry winner River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) is almost a rarity in that he had been through just one sale as a yearling when sold by his breeder Pier House Stud for 480,000gns. Queen Mary heroine Crimson Advocate was a $100,000 Ocala October yearling, but a number of her owners bought into her last month after she had shown encouraging form on debut at Keeneland. 

The Norfolk S. winner Valiant Force (Malibu Moon) was sold as both a weanling and a yearling and then withdrawn from the Craven breeze-up by Robson Aguiar, who also does much of the pre-training for the colt's co-owner Amo Racing. Meanwhile, Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio), winner of the Albany S., raced initially in the colours of her breeder Annemarie O'Brien before being sold privately to her American syndicate of owners after winning on debut.

The Arrival of Wathnan Racing

By far the biggest splash on the recent transaction front, however, was made by Wathnan Racing, whose presence on the main stage at Royal Ascot was almost as noteworthy as Elton John's farewell (of sorts) at Glastonbury.

The name Wathnan Racing, which was revealed last week as being owned by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, first appeared in sales results at last year's Horses-in-Training Sale at Tattersalls. The operation's Australian advisor Olly Tait spent 1.75 million gns on nine horses, including Bolthole (Ire) (Free Eagle {Ire}). Now four, he was subsequently twice placed for Alban de Mieulle in Doha before winning two Listed races in France in the last month, including on Saturday at Compiegne.

The most expensive of that set of horses was Inverness (Ire) (Highland Reel {Ire}), at 380,000gns, and he got off on the right foot for his new owner when winning the Khor Al Adaid Cup, a local Group 3 in Qatar, from Hamaki (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), who was bought at the same time for 260,000gns. They too are with the French-born, Qatar-based trainer de Mieulle, who has now raced seven of the nine bought at Tattersalls.

The mutterings are that Wathnan Racing has intentions of major expansion. If that is indeed the case, then that aim will likely have been reinforced by two sparkling results at the royal meeting, ably assisted by John and Thady Gosden and Frankie Dettori. 

After the win of Gregory (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) in the G2 Queen's Vase on Wednesday, the identity of the main man behind Wathnan Racing was still being guarded. By Thursday, however, when Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}) leapt from being a talented handicap winner to a Gold Cup hero on just his fourth start, it was clear that the horses' ownership could not remain under the radar.

With the help of agent Richard Brown and Tait, the Emir of Qatar has secured arguably the two best staying prospects in Britain who achieved the quite remarkable feat of each winning a major group race at Royal Ascot on their first start in the Wathnan Racing colours.

Gregory and Courage Mon Ami were bought respectively from their breeders Philippa Cooper and Anthony Oppenheimer. Courage Mon Ami was gelded over the winter, and Oppenheimer confided at Ascot that at one stage he had considered retiring him unraced because he was so big. Thankfully, his patience prevailed, and the staying division has a potential new superstar in its midst. 

It is of course encouraging to witness the emergence of a major new overseas owner wanting to race horses of this profile. In Courage Mon Ami's case, no stallion career beckons for him, and even the hugely progressive Gregory, who is being aimed at the St Leger, is, sadly, of lesser appeal to commercial stallion farms and was thus perhaps a little easier to buy than a horse of a similar level racing over shorter distances. 

What could become a concern for European nations in the longer term, particularly Britain with its relative paucity of prize-money, is how much the expanding racing programmes in the Middle East will have an effect on field sizes and the general quality of racing.

It is nothing new to see strong participation from a range of Qatari owners at the European sales. The Emir's brother Sheikh Joaan Al Thani established the largely French-based Al Shaqab Racing just over a decade ago, and has been represented by the likes of Treve (Fr), Galileo Gold (GB), Shalaa (Ire) and Toronado (Ire). Their cousin Sheikh Fahad was the trailblazer for the family in Britain, and has an increasing interest in America, through his Qatar Racing operation. The 2011 Melbourne Cup victory of Dunaden (Fr), when the sheikh was still racing under the Pearl Bloodstock banner, can be credited as a major driver for his own expansion, which has included significant sponsorship through QIPCO of the British Champions Series and British Horseracing Hall of Fame. In France, the Arc meeting and the Prix du Jockey Club are both sponsored by Sheikh Joaan under the name of Qatar.

In recent years, Saudi Arabian owners have become more prolific buyers at the horses-in-training sales and it is easy to see that this will only increase given the expansion of the racing programme and boost to prize-money on offer in Riyadh and Ta'if, coupled with a small domestic breeding programme.

Dubai was of course the forerunner in the Gulf region when it came to establishing a major international race day that morphed into a carnival. The inaugural Dubai World Cup was run in 1996 with a line-up of horses from America, Australia, Britain, and Japan, as well as three trained by Saeed Bin Suroor. It took Dubai's neighbours several decades to attempt to catch up, with the Saudi Cup launched in 2020 and with $20 million in prize-money for that race alone, overshadowing the $12 million on offer in the Dubai World Cup.

With its Emir's Trophy meeting primarily, Qatar also launched a bid to attract international runners to Al Rayyan racecourse in Doha, though this hasn't really caught on in the same way. Meanwhile, Bahrain launched its own Turf Series in 2021 with a specific aim of luring overseas runners, and has ambitions to add to the limited number of pattern races currently run on the island, headed by the G3 Bahrain International Trophy. Members of Bahrain's ruling family have also become more prominent as owners in Britain in recent seasons, with St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov (GB) and G2 Mill Reef S. winner Sakheer (Ire) representing Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa's KHK Racing, while last week's G1 King's Stand S. winner Bradsell (GB) runs for his brother Shaikh Nasser's Victorious Racing. Both operations have been active at the top end of the breeze-up and yearling sales, while Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, chairman of Bahrain's Rashid Equestrian and Horse Racing Club, is the co-owner/breeder with Shaikh Abdullah bin Isa Al Khalifa of last season's G1 Fillies' Mile winner Commissioning (GB).

With various members of Dubai's Al Maktoum family and Saudi's Prince Khalid Abdullah having had long established ties to Europe and beyond as the heads of significant owner-breeder operations, Arab participation in world racing is nothing new. What is new, however, is the establishment of a significant Gulf season with a more joined-up feel, starting in Bahrain in November and with lucrative meetings in Dubai, Saudi and Qatar through to the end of March. This will not only draw more foreign-trained runners with the promise of big purses, but will almost certainly mean that more horses than ever are bought at horses-in-training sales from outside that region and exported permanently, a situation that can only exacerbate the issue of dwindling field sizes in Britain.

To say change is coming is to overlook the fact that the racing and bloodstock scene is permanently evolving. What hasn't changed is the allure of Royal Ascot, the crown jewels of British racing, with its irrepressible pulling power. Similarly precious jewels, however, are the horses at the core of this event, or more pertinently, their bloodlines. Lessons should be learned from other European neighbours with dwindling broodmare bands and fewer top-class races, that there is long-term pain to be had from the short-term gain of selling off too many prized assets.