Roger Varian says Gold Cup contender Rahiebb is the focal point of his Royal Ascot team as the progressive four-year-old bids to continue his rise to the top of the staying division.
Offered at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale by his breeder Newsells Park Stud, the son of Frankel out of the beautifully bred Playful Sound was purchased by agent Federico Barberini for 220,000 guineas on behalf of his owner Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum, in a private sale transacted shortly after he was initially bought back in the ring.
The progressive four-year-old has continued to improve this season and heads to Royal Ascot on the back of an impressive victory in last month's Group 2 Yorkshire Cup.
Speaking ahead of Royal Ascot, Varian reported Rahiebb to be thriving as he told Tattersalls: "We've been watching Rahiebb this morning and he's in great form. He's on target for the Ascot Gold Cup. He's a beautiful model and a lovely stamp of a horse, and he seems to be finding his strength and developing into the finished article. We're very excited about Ascot only being two weeks away now."
The Yorkshire Cup was Rahiebb's first black-type success, but he had already shown high-class form as a three-year-old, finishing third in the Group 2 Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot before being beaten just a neck by Scandinavia in the Group 1 St Leger.
Varian believes those performances have firmly established Rahiebb among the leading contenders for the staying division's biggest prizes.
V"His last two races have really put him in the Gold Cup picture. Very nearly winning the St Leger, pushing Scandinavia all the way at Doncaster last September, and then winning the Yorkshire Cup quite impressively a few weeks ago. I think those two performances alone really put him in the Gold Cup picture," he added
"We're very excited about him in the short term, but also the medium and long term. We hope he can be a flag bearer for the yard over the next season or two."
With Royal Ascot drawing closer, Rahiebb is set to lead a sizeable team from Carlburg Stables.
"We have a good squad. I think we'll be between 10 and 12 runners on the week, and I think he'll be the focal point. He'll probably be the only one of ours lining up in a Group 1 that week and he goes there with an obvious chance," the trainer said.
"It's a tough race. They all are at Royal Ascot. He'll be the team leader, but there are some horses going there with nice chances."
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