Older horses

Alflaila 4 b c Dark Angel – Adhwaa

This colt had always looked useful and last year things really fell into place for him. Having won at Ascot first time out off a rating of 102, he progressed to win a Listed race and two Group 3s. He had a small issue this season but is fine now and on the comeback trail doing some halfspeed work. I hope to have him ready by the second half of next month. There’s a Listed race at Newbury on July 22 or the following week a Group 2 at York, both over 1m2f. We’ll see how he performs there before making longer-term plans.

Anmaat 5 b g Awtaad – African Moonlight

He has done nothing but progress all through his career, winning seven of his 12 starts with four seconds and a third. You don’t get much more genuine than that and it has been a wonderful journey so far. Last year he started off on 103 in July but by the time he had wrapped up the campaign he had won three straight races including the Group 2 Prix Dollar on Arc weekend at Longchamp. He had a very good winter and I was keen to get a Group 1 under his belt, so we targeted the Prix d’Ispahan. He had a very pleasing return when second to Adayar while having to concede 5lb, which was no bad effort. It brought him to just where I wanted and we took the chance of going to France, where you know they can go very slow and then sprint. Thankfully he’s very agile and has a great cruising speed and turn of foot. The ground was certainly faster by race time than it was advertised in the morning, but it didn’t seem to be a problem, although I wouldn’t want to run him on anything quicker. We spoke to Angus [Gold, Shadwell’s racing manager] about Royal Ascot and the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, but we thought it best to give him an extra couple of weeks after that and look at the Eclipse. Then he would have the obvious targets like the Juddmonte, Irish Champion and ultimately the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October. He put in a career-best performance last time and I don’t think he has stopped improving yet.

Hukum

6 b h Sea The Stars – Aghareed

This full-brother to Baaeed has already proved

himself a top-drawer performer, particularly last year when he won the Coronation Cup. However, it was a day of mixed emotions as I remember feeling on top of the world while driving home from Epsom only to be told later he had sustained a career-threatening injury. That was a devastating blow, but Sheikha Hissa told me that if he recovered to where he was before the injury she would keep him in training, which gave everyone so much to look forward to. We didn’t rush anything and by the time we got to Sandown last month for the Brigadier Gerard Stakes he was in a very good place, despite it being nearly a year since his last run. He was in great shape but I must admit approaching the furlong marker I was happy to finish second behind Desert Crown as we were all locked up with nowhere to go and he had already set sail. However, Hukum clearly didn’t share my pessimism and showed real class with a terrific turn of foot to win going away by half a length. Jim [Crowley] had told me leading up to the race that he got the feeling from the horse that if anything he was better than before, and so it proved. It was a fabulous race to watch and I’m sure it won’t be the last time these two horses face each other this year. I always felt Sandown would be the ideal prep race for the Hardwicke Stakes, but there’s a big proviso as I wouldn’t want to run him at Royal Ascot if the ground comes up fast. Further down the line, we’ll have to consider the King George and the major middle-distance races.

Muraad 7 gr g Dark Angel – Hidden Girl

This horse hasn’t won a Group 1 or any major race but to us he’s worth his weight in gold as he was lead horse to both Minzaal and Anmaat last year, while this spring he has been helping prepare Alflaila for his comeback. Once we get Alflaila back on track, and depending on how much help he needs at home, then we may give Muraad another start. He’s pretty useful as he showed last year on his only run when winning a Newbury handicap off a mark of 96.

Tarrabb 4 b f Exceed And Excel – Bahjtee

She has progressed steadily and won three times last year, rising from a mark of 80 to 91. She did well over the winter and I was happy enough with her comeback run at Chelmsford last month when narrowly failing to concede weight all round, only giving way late on. She’s a lovely, big, scopey filly and I’m sure there’s more

to come from her. The 7f last time is plenty sharp enough for her now and we have pencilled her in for the Kensington Palace Handicap at Royal Ascot over a mile for her next start. I think she’s on a nice mark and I hope she’ll be competitive off that. Then we can start looking for some black type to enhance her broodmare value.