Tag Archive for: Mostahdaf

Mostahdaf team eyeing distance switch for Dubai fourth

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Mostahdaf is likely to be dropped back to 10 furlongs when he returns to action following a respectable effort when up against Japanese superstar Equinox in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

John and Thady Gosden’s five-year-old produced a career best to win the mile-and-a-quarter Neom Turf Cup in tremendous fashion in February.

But he had the misfortune of bumping into Tetsuya Kimura’s ultra-impressive colt when upped to a mile and a half at Meydan, paying the price for trying to match strides with Equinox and fading into fourth in the World Cup night Group One.

Having secured £750,000 for his Riyadh success and topped that up with a further £250,000 for finishing fourth in Dubai, the son of Frankel is now enjoying a well-earned rest before recommencing battle on home soil later in the summer.

“He bumped into a monster and I thought he ran a great race,” said Angus Gold, racing manager for owners Shadwell, when reflecting on Mostahdaf’s exploits in the early part of 2023.

“He probably paid the price for chasing the winner off the bend late on and faded to fourth. The winner was that good he just went right away and our horse tried to go with him off the bend and paid for that.

“I think we will probably drop him back in trip in time to a mile and a quarter. He has plenty of pace, as we saw in Saudi the time before.

“I spoke to John (Gosden) and he seemed very happy with the horse and he seems to have come out of the race in really good shape. We’ll just freshen him up, give him a little break and hopefully have him back mid-summer.

“He’s done us proud and has earned £1million before the season has started over here.”

Although there may be few secrets left to discover about Mostahdaf, there is plenty to learn about his half-brother Mostabshir in the coming months.

Also trained by the Gosdens, the Dark Angel colt is nearing a return following a taking debut at Kempton in November and is a possible for a Guineas trial in the next couple of weeks if continuing to please connections.

“We’re happy with him so far and he will probably run during that Craven week, either at Newmarket or Newbury,” continued Gold.

“We will just see nearer the time if that will be the Craven Stakes or the conditions race there (Newmarket), or even the Greenham.

“But we will see how he is doing and whether we want to start him off a bit easier than that, or if everyone is happy with him and we go for a trial.

“He’s won his only start and he’s potentially nice, but now we have to see the next step.”

Lord North leading Gosden team on glittering World Cup night card

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Thady Gosden is under no illusions about the task facing Lord North in his bid for a Dubai Turf hat-trick at Meydan on Saturday.

The seven-year-old was a clear-cut winner of the nine-furlong Group One in 2021 and last year dead-heated with subsequent Saudi Cup winner Panthalassa after a thrilling duel.

The Dubai World Cup-bound Panthalassa will not be in opposition this weekend, but Lord North will nevertheless face a strong Japanese challenge, with Do Deuce and Serifos both formidable rivals.

Gosden, who trains in partnership with his father John, got the chance to cast his eye over Lord North on the Meydan training track on Tuesday morning and is looking forward to the weekend.

He said: “It was very tight last year. The form of that win was franked pretty nicely in the Middle East when Panthalassa won the Saudi Cup last month.

“The Japanese horses have been doing exceptionally well over here for the last few years and they bring their best horses over here. They’re going to be hard to take on, so we’ll see.”

Last year Lord North finished second in the Winter Derby en route to Meydan, whereas this year he ran out an impressive winner of the Lingfield Group Three.

“It’s the same route he took to Meydan as last year and he was a lot more impressive this year, winning well on the back of a long break,” Gosden added.

“It was nice to see him do that under hands and heels and do it well.”

Mostahdaf on the Meydan training track
Mostahdaf on the Meydan training track (Dubai Racing Club/Liesl King)

Lord North is one of three planned runners on World Cup night for the Gosden team, with Mostahdaf being readied for the Dubai Sheema Classic and Trawlerman poised for a tilt at the Dubai Gold Cup.

Mostahdaf was a runaway winner of the Neom Turf Cup in Riyadh last month, while Ebor victory Trawlerman finished eighth in the Red Sea Turf Handicap on the same card.

Gosden said: “This is their first day out of quarantine, so they’ve just had a nice stretch to ease them into things.

“Both Mostahdaf and Trawlerman ran in Saudi last month, but they have been back home since for a couple of weeks and then all three travelled over here on Saturday.

“For the rest of the week we’ll do a mixture between the training track and the main track and we’ll canter them on the grass to allow them to get a feel of things. Hopefully everything goes smoothly.

“All three of them have travelled before which is a plus and this is Lord North’s third season here, so he knows the place well. All three of them seem to be adapting well since arriving here.”

Breeders’ Cup a long-term possibility for Saudi scorer Mostahdaf

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Connections of Mostahdaf may target the Breeders’ Cup Turf at the end of the year should he continue to sparkle this summer.

The John and Thady Gosden-trained colt took his earnings to over £1million with a seven-length demolition of a strong Neom Turf Cup field in Riyadh on Saturday.

Jim Crowley’s mount was one of the easiest winners over the two-day Saudi Cup meeting and following his eighth victory in 13 career starts, the son of Frankel may now head to Dubai for the Sheema Classic.

Angus Gold, racing manager to owners Shadwell Estate Company, said plans for Mostahdaf could involve working back from the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita in November.

“He hasn’t got back to England yet, so we haven’t sat down to discuss plans,” said Gold. “Obviously, we want to see that he is in good shape and take it from there, but the Sheema Classic is the obvious route.

“I’d be silly if I said anything other than I was very impressed by him. On his day, he is a pretty high-class horse. He seems to go well fresh.

“I thought they did brilliantly to prepare a horse like that through an English winter, to go out and run a race like that first-time out.”

Very soft conditions did not suit when last of 20 in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp in October.

Jim Crowley/Riyadh
Jim Crowley gives the post-race de-brief to Thady Gosden (left) and Shadwell’s assistant racing manager Richard Hills (Simon Milham/PA)

Yet the five-year-old looked in great shape ahead of the Group Three Neom Turf Cup and from an ideal draw at the King Abdulaziz Racecourse, Crowley had the race won turning for home, before he was eased down at the end of the extended mile-and-a-quarter race.

“He was in a perfect spot and all went his way,” said Gold.

“The one thing we do know about him is he loves proper fast ground. He moved beautifully on that fast ground on Saturday.

“Jim said to me that something like aiming him backwards at the Breeders’ Cup at the end of the year on fast ground, the mile-and-a-half race, might be an option.

“We haven’t sat down to make any long-term plans, though. With these sort of horses, it is fairly obvious sort of races. If he goes back to the Sheema, he is going to need a break then, so there will be nothing early.

“Depending on how he comes out of it all, you’d obviously look at Royal Ascot.

“I would say anything mid-summer onwards, anything from a mile and a quarter to a mile and a half would suit.

“He had plenty of speed on Saturday, but we know he stays a mile and a half.

“The options are varied, but we know he goes well fresh and so I think we will pick and choose our spots, but get him through Dubai first in one piece, hopefully.”

Mostahdaf powers to Neom Turf Cup victory

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John and Thady Gosden’s Mostahdaf turned the Neom Turf Cup into a procession in Riyadh.

The race was supposed to see George Boughey’s Royal Ascot winner Missed The Cut announce himself on the world stage as part of the Saudi Cup undercard, but for the second time on a trip away from home he fluffed his lines.

Slowly away under Oisin Murphy, he had to circle the field to get a handy position but by the home turn he had little left to give, fading into fourth.

Mostahdaf, on the other hand, was always in the perfect spot under Jim Crowley.

Last seen finishing stone last in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on soft ground, he was much more at home on a quicker surface and fairly bolted up, with Dubai Future seven lengths back in second.

Thady Gosden said: “He was obviously drawn down there on the inside and had a lovely draw. Jim broke well and gave him the perfect ride round as well.

“The pace was slow and we had a really nice spot on the outside. It was bit messy in behind us and we were luckily out of trouble and he sent him at the perfect time and he’s picked up well in the straight.

“He didn’t really enjoy swimming in the Arc – it was a much faster surface here today and he really enjoys that. He has a low action and enjoyed flicking off the top of it.

“We put this plan together after last year, we thought he was the sort of horse who would be suited to races like this. There is a huge attraction to come to the Middle East now and we thought this would suit him well for the start of the year.

“His last race was obviously the Arc, but prior to that was in the September Stakes against useful horses and he quickened up quite well that day on a sounder surface. He’s a versatile horse who is pretty comfortable in terms of trip. We’ll talk to the owners and see if we take him to Dubai next month.”

Of Missed The Cut’s run, Boughey said: “Oisin had a split-second decision to make whether to go forward or back and through no fault of anyone’s, he’s probably ended up having to go further than the others.

“But that’s racing. He’s probably run fractionally below his best form, but he’ll be back. There are a lot of options for him, we’ll just see how he is tomorrow.”

Murphy said: “He had a wide trip – jockey error. It’s a shame, he tried.”

Bill Mott’s Casa Creed was just touched off in the 1351 Turf Sprint by the Japanese-trained Songline 12 months ago and he had to settle for second behind another Far East runner this time in Bathrat Leon.

Fourth to Baaeed in the Sussex Stakes, Bathrat Leon won the Godolphin Mile last year and over this seven-furlong trip he was able to be ridden very aggressively.

Yoshito Yahagi is no stranger to winners on the global stage, and Bathrat Leon clung on desperately for success.

Richard Hannon’s Happy Romance finished just out of the places, in front of stablemate Lusail.

Yahagi said: “The tactics were to be in front. He was given a very good ride, I think. The course was perfect for him. Ryusei Sakai, my stable jockey, he is very up and coming at the moment. It is a big win for him.

“He travelled well and it was a very good plan. He stays that trip well. We will go to Dubai now.”

There was a local winner of the Saudi Derby when Commissioner King narrowly got the better of Frankie Dettoti on Bob Baffert’s Havnameltdown.

Winning jockey Luis Morales said: “He gave me everything. The way he had been working over the last few days and weeks, we knew we had a good chance. He just kept improving.

“I got a good trip and at one stage I thought I was going to win, then Frankie’s horse kept coming back.

“But we got there and it is a great feeling to win for all the local fans. He’s a local horse and it is great to do it.”

Asked how special it was to beat Frankie Dettori in a finish, he added with a smile: “After the finish line, I knew we’d won. But you know Frankie. When riding against him, he’s sometimes a pain! But he is a legend.”

Dettori was philosophical and said: “I spoke to Bob and he said try to nurse his speed. I tried to save as much as I could. We got into a duel, but unfortunately in the last 50 yards, he had enough.”