Shadwell To Announce Details On Baaeed's Stud Career This Week

Shadwell will announce details relating to Baaeed (GB)'s stud career later this week, according to the owner-breeder's racing manager Angus Gold, who also revealed that Group 1-winning sprinter Minzaal (Ire) will be joining their roster ahead of the next year's breeding season.

However, Baaeed's brother Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), whose career hung in the balance after he suffered an injury when winning the G1 Coronation Cup at Epsom, returned to training with Owen Burrows on Monday and is expected to make a return to the track in 2023.

A decision over what fee Baaeed will stand for in his debut season at stud has yet to be decided upon with Gold insisting that the six-time Group 1 winner is no less of an exciting stallion prospect despite losing his unbeaten record when fourth on his final start in the G1 Champion S. at Ascot on Saturday.

Gold said, “I'm not a huge fan of making excuses for horses. I saw William [Haggas] saying that, when a horse gets beaten, it is usually because they haven't run fast enough. My own personal feeling is that the ground blunted his speed.

“People have their own ideas, it's what this game is about, lots of opinions. People will say that he was positioned too far back. I can't have that. He moved up beautifully coming to the bend and Jim [Crowley, jockey] pulled him out.

“On the top of the ground, I'd have expected him to quicken, like he normally does. This horse has a turn of foot. That's his potent weapon. But it just wasn't there at all. He just plugged away very gamely.”

He added, “Some other people will say that he didn't stay. Well, with the greatest respect in the world, you only have to look at York to knock that theory on the head. Visually, York was by far and away his most impressive run. So, I refuse to subscribe to that theory.”

The fact that Baaeed could not better stablemate My Prospero (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) (third at 22-1) when suffering a shock defeat at the hands of Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) in Saturday's swansong suggests to Gold that the horse who drew comparisons to his sire Sea The Stars and even Frankel (GB) did not show his true colours at Ascot.

He explained, “William knows where they are in terms of talent and, the fact Baaeed couldn't get past him [My Prospero] tells you everything you need to know. That's not trying to be rude about My Prospero in any way.

“With a horse who can quicken like Baaeed can, there's not many who can do it on the top of the ground at that level and be as effective on the other extreme. It puts into perspective how fantastic Frankel was–he was able to overcome that horrible ground but our horse couldn't do it.”

He added, “While it was disappointing he didn't go out unbeaten, he's no lesser horse in my eyes anyway.  We're just thrilled to get him back in one piece and hopefully he'll be going to stud.”

Details of that second career at stud are being ironed out chiefly between Sheikha Hissa al Maktoum and Derrinstown Stud's Stephen Collins and an announcement can be expected by the end of the week.

Gold said, “We'll be announcing plans in the next few days and we're all hugely excited about his stud career. I am not involved in the stud side but I have had a lot of enquiries from about 10 weeks back.

“Lots of people, some serious breeders, are very keen to use the horse. He's the new kid on the block so, hopefully, if we price him right, he will appeal for a considerable time to come.

“There's always a new horse around so that's where we've got to be careful. If we can set the fee correctly so that breeders can use this horse happily, they will use him not just next year, but going forward.

“To be honest, we're still discussing and obviously Sheikha Hissa and her family are involved in those talks, as is Stephen Collins [manager at Derrinstown Stud] in Ireland and several people here. We want to get it right and, for the horse's sake, it's important that we do.”

Minzaal, the highest-rated son of Mehmas (Ire), went out in a blaze of glory after it emerged that he fractured his knee when rocketing to a breakthrough Group 1 victory in the Sprint Cup at Haydock last month. Details about his planned career at stud will also be made public soon.

Gold said, “Again, it's still being discussed but the one thing I do know is Sheikha Hissa has said that we will definitely be holding onto the horse. He will be standing at one of our studs in either England or Ireland and hopefully we will have a decision to announce in the near future.”

On Hukum, he added, “Hukum went back into training yesterday [Monday]. Sheikha Hissa is very keen to keep him in training next year, obviously he will be an older horse, but he just hit his top form when unfortunately undone by an injury.

“We looked after him at the stud after that and, touch wood, he has healed really well.

“Sheikha Hissa is particularly fond of this horse and was keen to see him race on next year. He has gone back to Owen Burrows and, all being well, will be back on the track next year.”

Shadwell ended a two-year drought at the British yearling sales in style by snapping up 10 youngsters at Book 1 and Book 2 this month as Sheikha Hissa marked her first trip to Park Paddocks.

The world-famous operation is reported to have a juvenile team in the mid-50s to look forward to next term. However, it's a colt in the current crop of juveniles, Naqeeb (Ire), a Nathaniel (Ire) half-brother to Baaeed, who is drumming up interest ahead of an intended debut in the coming weeks.

Gold said, “Aghareed (Kingmambo) [the dam of Baaeed and Hukum] is 13 now. She has a Nathaniel 2-year-old, who is a nice type of horse, a bigger, longer and scopier horse to Baaeed, as you'd probably expect.

“Hopefully William will get this horse out in the next two or three weeks. She has a very nice Night Of Thunder (Ire) yearling colt who is a late May foal so I doubt he'll be particularly early or precocious but he's a nice type of horse.

“Unfortunately the mare was barren to New Bay (GB) this year but she is back in foal to Sea The Stars now. Touch wood, there is still a lot to look forward to with her.”