By Brian Sheerin
Connections of Al Riffa (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), the brilliant G1 National S. winner, are confident that they have a Guineas horse on their hands and are predicting Joseph O'Brien's exciting colt to be even better next year.
Khalifa Bin Ahmed Alattiyah, a familiar face on Irish racecourses and on the sales circuit, was at the Curragh on Sunday to see Al Riffa, owned by his cousin Jassim Bin Ali Al Attiyah, tower over his rivals.
Not only did Al Riffa provide crack youngster Dylan Browne McMonagle with his first Group 1 success in the saddle, but he also handed his owner with a breakthrough victory at the highest level in Ireland from as many attempts, with Alattiyah labelling his cousin as “one lucky man.”
Alattiyah, who along with his close friend Mohamed Al Mansour has run a number of horses with O'Brien under the Al Mamoura Partnership, revealed his family are now looking forward to a tilt at the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere or the G1 Dewhurst before dreaming of Classic glory for Al Riffa through the winter.
Alattiyah said, “We thought he was a horse that would do better as a 3-year-old when we bought him as a yearling. His class has allowed him to do what he has done.
“Physically, he's a really nice-looking horse and is quite unfurnished. He is only a frame of a horse and he will fill out a lot. To be honest, we haven't even seen the best of him yet.”
He added, “When you see him in the flesh, there is no way you would think that this is a horse who can win a National S. as a 2-year-old, but he has an unbelievable amount of class. He has the option of the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and the Dewhurst as well. The decision will be left to Joseph.
“Al Riffa runs in the colours of my cousin Jassim Bin Ali Al Attiyah. I was with Joseph when he bought him as a yearling [for 150,000gns at Book 1 at Tattersalls] last year. Al Riffa is actually Jassim's first runner in Ireland–he is one lucky man!”
“He was very impressive and that's a special day. It was a big ask to go from a maiden to a Group One but he's a very high class horse.”@JosephOBrien2's Al Riffa wins the @Goffs1866 Vincent O'Brien National Stakes.#LICW22 pic.twitter.com/0A6CLpuxt4
— The Curragh Racecourse (@curraghrace) September 11, 2022
Fortune has certainly favoured the connections of Al Riffa but nobody could accuse Alattiyah of not putting in the legwork along with O'Brien at the yearling sales.
While some owners prefer to take a more passive approach to securing talent, Alattiyah attends most of the sales himself, and revealed that he plans on being active at the Orby Sale at Goffs later this month.
He said, “Joseph has helped me a lot. Niall Ryan has also been a huge help to me. He's played a big role in helping secure everything that we have. He's a great guy. Any time I need help, I give him a call so, between Niall and Joseph, these are the guys who have really helped me out and taught me the most.
“Horses are in our blood. We own Arabian horses back home in Qatar and those families have been nurtured by our great, great grandfathers. We can trace some of those families back 80 to 100 years in some cases. I have loved racing since I was young and followed Sea The Stars (Ire), Frankel (GB), Camelot (GB) and Australia (GB), so I have been exploring racing in Europe since I was 18 or 19 years old.”
On striking up a relationship with O'Brien, he added, “My friend Mohamed Al Mansour introduced me to Joseph. He owns everything 50-50 with me in the Al Mamoura Partnership. “Mohamed went to work for Coolmore to build up his knowledge of horses and racing and it was there where he met Aidan [O'Brien] and Joseph. The first sale we went to with Joseph was at Doncaster in 2016 and, from then, I was really happy as I knew he was the sort of guy who had the same goals as us. We bought two yearlings that day and had some luck with them. Our luck has continued right up to Al Riffa and now it looks like we have a nice horse.
“It is a nice story and we are really lucky that everyone at Owning Hill–Tara Armstrong, Mark Power, Brendan Powell and Faisal Hayat–have helped us. We will be at the Orby Sale. The plan is to try and buy some yearlings there.”
Southern Lights (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), a Leopardstown maiden winner who ran in last year's Derby and reached a rating of 104, and three-time scorer Hadman (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), are some of the better horses that Alattiyah has been associated with.
As of yet, he hasn't run in his own silks with O'Brien, but says that could change in the near future, explaining that he plans to bolster his team in Ireland.
He said, “Most of the horses I have owned in Joseph's have run in partnerships. I haven't run a horse in my own silks yet, but hopefully that will happen next month. I love going to the sales.
“We try our best to look for nice horses like Al Riffa. Finding one as good as him was our dream. I look for quality. I like the mile and middle-distance horses. First of all, we are looking at a good physical, and then we look for pedigree.”
He added, “If you were to ask me what I dream of, it's to win the Derby. Be that as an owner or a breeder, that's what I want to do. Sometimes, when you're at the sales, you might see something that looks nice and is fast, and we don't mind buying those types either. But the main thing we look for is class.
“Joseph thinks Al Riffa is a Guineas horse. He will probably start off in the Guineas next year and, after that, our dream is to win the Derby. That would be the dream but, at the moment, Joseph thinks that if he has a good winter and doesn't get any setbacks, he has the class to be a Guineas horse, so that is exciting.”
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