TDN RISING STARS

September 9, 2011 - DONCASTER, Race , Cond, GBP £17,500, 7f, 15.3500

Ektihaam (Ire), C, 2011, by Invincible Spirit (Ire)

1st Dam: Liscune (Ire), by King's Best
2nd Dam: Royal Lorna, by Val de L'Orne (Fr)
3rd Dam: Royal Statute, by Northern Dancer

Owner: Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Breeder: Bernard Cooke
Trainer: Roger Varian

Heavily backed into 8-15 for this race won 12 months ago by Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), Ektihaam duly delivered under a four-pound penalty as a result of his debut win over this trip at Newbury July 15. In that contest, the 250,000gns TATDEC weanling had claimed the scalp of the highly-regarded Harvard N Yale (Smart Strike), and that rival had subsequently posted an advert for the form with a smooth win in a decent mile maiden at Newmarket. Waited with in third early, the imposing bay strode to the front passing the quarter pole where he was instantly joined by Mizwaaj (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). After receiving a couple of light flicks from Richard Hills, he drew clear of that Godolphin representative to score by four lengths, despite shying at the boardings on the winning post. Trainer Roger Varian was taking a typically cautious approach afterwards. "He was still a bit green today, but traveled nicely and behaved himself, so hopefully he'll come on a bit for that and learn a bit more," he said. "Richard did the right thing in dropping him in today and he had to keep him straight late on--he's a big, athletic horse with a big stride and I think he probably wants a mile now. He covers a lot of ground and if they go quicker he will travel even better. We'll take him home and see how he is before deciding on plans, but he's quite a raw horse still." Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, £15,131.