Adam Houghton reports back from Bahrain as the countdown continues to the fourth running of the £600,000 Bahrain International Trophy on Friday.
Much of the excitement when visiting a different racing jurisdiction comes from the new names and faces you get to familiarise yourself with, the talented horses and humans who you can’t just see on your doorstep.
Or that’s the idea anyway, but it’s fair to say that my experience when I first attended the Bahrain International Trophy last year proved to be rather different. Indeed, having travelled over 3,000 miles to witness the third running of this valuable contest, the winner turned out to be a horse trained around 6 miles from where I grew up in York.
The horse in question was, of course, Lord Glitters, the popular veteran who came from last to first under Jason Watson to scoop the lion’s share of the £500,000 prize fund, ultimately landing the spoils by half a length from Barney Roy, another stalwart of the domestic Flat racing scene.
It was a significant coup for the race that the first two last year were the only previous Group One winners in the line-up, while the way in which Lord Glitters got the job done showed that you can win from anywhere on the track.
Rewind the clock to 2020 and Simsir had been ridden very differently when landing a blow for the home team, racing clear of the field with one other for much of the race and gaining a decisive advantage early in the straight which was eventually reduced to just a neck at the line.
Simsir was drawn in stall 2 when he won and Lord Glitters came from stall 12 last year, so there doesn’t appear to be any bias in that regard either. Only 10 runners are set to go to post on Friday, too, the smallest field in the race’s short history after a couple of intended runners were ruled out due to late setbacks, notably the likely favourite Alflaila.
It follows then that the post-position draw held on Wednesday for the 2022 edition of the Bahrain International Trophy was a rather uneventful affair, but there were a couple of interesting nuggets to take from the afternoon.
Chris Durham, part of Charlie Appleby’s travelling team, was certainly taking little comfort from the events of last year when Royal Fleet was drawn widest of all in stall 10.
“Definitely,” was his reply when asked by the event’s co-host Nick Luck whether stall 10 would be an issue for Royal Fleet given his style of racing.
“It’s not a good draw, but we’ll take it and hope for the best. We’ve got a chance and we finished second to Lord Glitters [in the Singspiel Stakes] at Meydan earlier this year. But stall 10 is a big problem.”
The Godolphin blue is still yet to be carried to victory in this race – Barney Roy fared best of the six horses to have tried when filling the runner-up spot 12 months ago – and Royal Fleet, who will be the mount of champion jockey William Buick, is set to be one of four runners for the operation on Friday.
That quartet is completed by Magny Cours, who was beaten less than a length when third for Andre Fabre last year, and the Saeed bin Suroor-trained pair of Dubai Future and Passion And Glory.
Passion And Glory’s rider Richard Kingscote was also amongst those in attendance for the draw on Wednesday and very much looking forward to the opportunity as he tries to cap a brilliant year which has already brought success in the Derby and Champion Stakes for Sir Michael Stoute.
“It was a bit of a surprise booking,” said Kingscote, who has ridden two winners from just three rides for Bin Suroor in the calendar year.
“I’ve not seen Saeed since I got here, but I’ll touch base with him on the day.
“It’s a pretty fair track. Last year they came from off the pace and the year before they made the running, so I don’t think you can pigeonhole the track. My lad likes to be forward and I’ve got a good draw for that.
“It looks like he’s got a chance and it’s a nice race to be a part of. They’ve supported it really well and it’s a big pot – hopefully I can get some of it.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Irish trainer Willie McCreery, who had intended to tackle Lord Glitters and co last year before his Insinuendo suffered a small setback and those plans had to be shelved.
The delayed trip to the Middle East could prove worth the wait as Insinuendo has arguably been better than ever this season, notably finishing third in the Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot last time, and McCreery is hopeful of another bold showing on her final start before heading to the sales.
McCreery said: “The whole idea this year was to get her Group One placed, and we did that on her last run, so then we said we’d come for this before she goes to the sales in a couple of weeks.
“She deserves to win a race like this. She’s been beaten by Group One winners and Classic winners, the likes of Luxembourg and Mother Earth. She’s been very unfortunate to come up against them in Group Threes.
“She’s been running good races, she’s a very good mare and, hopefully, she’ll put up a huge performance.”
Conditions on Friday will pose a very different test to what Insinuendo encountered at Ascot, dropping back to a mile and a quarter on what is likely to be quicker ground.
McCreery has no worries about the conditions, though, and is hoping to see his mare follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner by picking up the leaders late on.
He added: “The ground is well watered and the track will be beautiful. She was fourth in a Group One on firm ground last year, so she won’t mind the ground. She is a hardened mare and won’t mind the rough and tumble.
“She’s usually held up and there’s only 10 runners. She’s a good finisher and, if we’re within four or five lengths of the leaders turning in, we’ve a right chance.”
Of the rest, there was one name which I really had to familiarise myself when going through the runners and riders for the 2022 running of the Bahrain International Trophy.
The horse in question is King David, who is trained in Norway by Niels Petersen and came to Bahrain on a roll having won his last four starts at Bro Park in Sweden (twice), Klampenborg in Denmark and Ovrevoll in Norway.
I must confess that my knowledge of those racing jurisdictions is very limited, but Petersen clearly has plenty of belief in a horse who will become the first from Scandinavia to compete in Friday’s contest.
“It’s a privilege and pleasure to be here,” Petersen said. “It’s a big task for us to come out here with King David but he’s in good form. We’ve been out here for a couple of days and things look really good, I’m delighted.
“He’s been extremely good this season and that’s why we kept the form going from his last run at the end of August until now. I think the horse has improved and he deserves to have a go at this. He has a big chance.”
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