Bahrain International Trophy

Bahraini-based by globally successful trainer Fawzi Nass has cemented a reputation as a shrewd buyer of European horses in training both at public auction and privately, and his latest project Simsir (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) came good on his first start for his new yard on Friday, winning the £500,000 Bahrain International Trophy at Sakhir from John Gosden's Global Giant (GB) (Shamardal) and Aidan O'Brien's G1 Irish Derby winner Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). The 4-year-old gelding Simsir was plucked privately from the yard of Mick Halford just this fall, having previously...

The second running of the £500,000 Bahrain International Trophy on Friday has drawn a competitive international lineup, with little separating the leading fancies in the betting. Each of the 14 runners, including five Group 1 winners, has of course been meticulously primed for a run at this sizable pot, but that statement perhaps applies to Global Giant (GB) (Shamardal) more than any other. The international favourite has had this race as his primary target since being bought privately from Ed Dunlop's yard last year by Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al...

Friday's £500,000 Bahrain International Trophy will be shown in 123 countries, with Racecourse Media Group in partnership with the Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club having secured widespread global coverage. Bahrain's most important race will be shown on Racing TV and Sky Sports Racing in the UK and Ireland, with ITV featuring it as part of its Saturday programme. Fox Sports in the U.S. will carry the race; ESPN in Latin America and the Caribbean (also Sportsmax), SuperSport in Africa (Tellytrack in South Africa) and Green Channel in Japan (via recording)....

MG1SW Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) will make what is likely her final start in the £500,000 Bahrain International Trophy on Friday, Nov. 20. The 2019 G1 Nassau S. heroine is the first Japanese horse to campaign in Bahrain. The Toji Morita-owned bay was eighth in the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Oct. 4. Post positions will be drawn for the 14-horse field on Wednesday, Nov. 18. "Her two Group 1 wins came on right-handed tracks at Kyoto and Goodwood," said assistant trainer Yoshi Hashida to the Bahrain...

The Nov. 20 £500,000 Bahrain International Trophy field of 14 has been set after the latest supplementary stage closed. There are five Group 1 winners set to take part including Coolmore's G1 Irish Derby winner Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Japan's MG1SW Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}), G1SW Lord Glitters (Fr) (Whipper), MGISW Desert Encounter (Ire) (Halling) and Godolphin's G1SW Dream Castle (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Although MG1SW Barney Roy (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}) has suffered a minor setback, Godolphin will also field MGSW Dark Vision (Ire) (Dream Ahead). John Gosden sends HH Shaikh...

Jockey Hollie Doyle has picked up the ride on Group 1 winner Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) in the Nov. 20 £500,000 International Trophy in Bahrain, Racing Post reported. Doyle, who earned her first Group 1 win aboard Glen Shiel (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) on British Champions Day last month, has ridden 129 winners through Saturday and will ride Mighty Gurkha (Ire) (Sepoy {Aus}) in the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on Nov. 6. Deirdre, winner of the G1 Nassau S. in the UK in 2019, was also successful in the...

Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the 2019 G1 Irish Derby hero for Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore partners, is a late supplement to the 2000-metre £500,000 Bahrain International Trophy on Nov. 20, the Rashid Equestrian & Horseracing Club announced on Wednesday. Also second in this term's G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO S., Sovereign will be O'Brien's first Bahraini runner. "Sovereign is a strong mile and a quarter horse," O'Brien told the Rashid Equestrian & Horseracing Club notes team. (Click here to view the interview.) "He is a very...

MG1SW Barney Roy (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}) leads an octet of Group 1 winners among the entries for the second edition of the £500,000 Bahrain International Trophy, the Rashid Equestrian & Horseracing Club. Sixty-one horses from Britain (22), Ireland (14), France (9), Bahrain (6), the UAE (6), Norway (2), Japan (1) and Germany (1) hold entries for the 2000-metre race at Sakhir Racecourse on Friday, Nov. 20. A four-time Group 1 winner, the Godolphin colourbearer saluted in the G1 Longines Grosser Preis von Baden last out on Sept. 13. "It's a...