The 33 two-year-olds Shadwell Estates will race in 2026

By Dan Briden

Horse Racing

Wed February 04, 2026 · 1d ago

Dan Briden looks at the 33 two-year-olds Shadwell Estates will have in training for 2026 - and where they have been sent.

Since the death of Sheikh Hamdan in 2021, Shadwell’s operation has been totally streamlined - the emphasis firmly on quality over quantity.

Under the control of Hamdan’s daughter, Sheika Hissa, the new chapter for Shadwell could hardly have started better given both Baaeed and Mostahdaf stormed onto the scene, having both been unraced at two.

Al Husn, Anmaat, Hukum and Minzaal are others who have provided the new-look Shadwell outfit with success at the top level, supplemented by other high-class performers such as Al Aasy and Alflaila.

Minzaal scorches clear in the Betfair Sprint Cup

The aforementioned Minzaal was the operation’s last really good two-year-old performer, and he, along with Baaeed, will be represented by runners on the track for the first time this year. Unsurprisingly, Shadwell have supported the pair, both at the sales and with their own mares, the duo having a total of 14 of the Shadwell’s 33-strong two-year-old team for 2026.

For all it could be there are later-maturing types yet to be allocated, it seems Saeed Bin Suroor, Kevin Philippart de Foy, Richard Hannon and Marcus Tregoning are off the Shadwell roster when it comes to two-year-olds.

George Boughey has enjoyed a degree of success from limited numbers and has been sent a quartet of youngsters. He has been given two colts and two fillies, with the Baaeed colt out of Adool being a half-brother to the yard’s 1m 3yo winner Alhattan. His second dam is Khulood, winner of the Nell Gywn Stakes and herself from the family of Intello and Mehthaaf.

There is a Minzaal filly out of 7f 2yo Group 3/Listed winner Tajaanus, while a Perfect Power colt who fetched 260,000gns comes from the solid family of Chris Fairhurst’s useful sprinter Perfect Peach. The mating with first-season sire Perfect Power may well represent an upgrade for the mare, who has produced three winners so far, all of whom have been by Outstrip.

Trainer Owen Burrows

Owen Burrows has provided Shadwell with the bulk of its recent success and has been assigned six two-year-olds - three colts and three fillies. The most familiar of the pedigrees to the handler will be that of the Nathaniel filly out of his 7f 3yo Group 3 winner Talaayeb, herself a half-sister to smart pair Muntazah and Wadilsafa.

He has also been sent a Frankel colt out of Ettisaal, a Listed-placed French 7.5f 2yo winner from the family of Tamayuz. She has been rather disappointing in her second career so far, but the mating with Frankel may change that, with the pairing meaning this colt is bred on the same Frankel/Dubawi cross that has produced Derby winner Adayar, Irish 1000 Guineas winner Homeless Songs and Shadwell’s own dual Group 1 winner Mostahdaf.

Burrows has received a quartet picked up from the sales. There is the Wootton Bassett colt out of Cava who cost 340,000gns as a foal. He is a half-brother to 10f 3yo Listed winner Caviar Heights and out of a Listed-placed Irish 6f 2yo winning sister to Irish 6f Group 3 winner Hitchens.

There are a couple by Burrows’s Haydock Sprint Cup hero Minzaal, including the £190,000 sales topper from the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale last August. She has been named Esha’a and is out of Swedish 1m Listed winner Hateya, herself from a solid old Juddmonte line that includes Nostrum, Trade Fair and Ventura. The colt by Minzaal fetched 260,000gns last autumn and is a half-brother to dual 7f Group 3 winner Pretty Baby and Group 3/Listed-placed dual 6f winner Queen of Mougins.

It almost goes without saying that the pair should be among the sharper of the two-year-olds among the Shadwell two-year-old team.

There is also a Baaeed colt out of Waliyak who cost 400,000gns as a foal. His dam won a 1m 1f Group 3 in France and hails from an Aga Khan line that includes the likes of Prix du Jockey Club and Eclipse Stakes winner Vadeni and Prix Saint-Alary winners Vadawina and Vazira.

Trainer Harry Eustace

Harry Eustace is one of the newer trainers on the Shadwell trainer rollcall and has been sent four two-year-olds, with a 50/50 split between colts and fillies. There is a Kingman filly out of Blandford Stakes winner and Oaks runner-up Tarfasha, and an Oasis Dream colt out of Rayaheen, making him a three-parts brother to Sweet Solera Stakes winner Tajaanus (by Arcano). The second dam is Cheveley Park Stakes and 1000 Guineas winner Natagora.

Eustace has also been sent the Baaeed colt out of Moonlit Garden who sold for 175,000gns last autumn. Shadwell will be hoping for better luck this time having previously bought a 600,000gns colt by Siyouni out of the mare who failed to make it to the track for the Gosdens

Speaking of the John and Thady Gosden team, they have been sent six juveniles by Shadwell this time around - five colts and a filly. The filly is by Baaeed and out of connections’ five-time 12f-2m Group 2 winner Enbihaar, whose first foal was a 10f maiden winner at three for the yard.

The only two Dubawis for Shadwell are both at Clarehaven. The first is out of the Kingman mare Wasaayef, a 7f 2yo winner for the yard, though the team will be hoping the mating works out better second time around with the first attempt resulting in a thrice-raced maiden. The other Dubawi is the first foal of Irish 1m 3yo Listed winner Mehnah, herself a Frankel half-sister to Irish 2000 Guineas winner Awtaad.

The only two-year-old bought at auction to be trained by the Gosdens is a Baaeed colt out of Musidora Stakes winner Give And Take. He fetched 200,000gns last autumn and is a half-brother to 2025 US 1m 3yo Grade 2 winner Luther, while the extended family includes the very smart middle-distance/staying performer Fame And Glory.

Trainer William Haggas

William Haggas is another leading Newmarket handler to have been sent a sextet of two-year-olds, with the same 5:1 ratio on colts to fillies.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, he has been sent a couple by Baaeed. The first is a colt out of May Hill Stakes winner Turret Rocks who fetched 625,000gns last autumn. He is a half-brother to Jersey Stakes winner Age of Kings. The other is a filly out of Falmouth Stakes and Sun Chariot Stakes winner Nazeef, herself a half-sister to Prince of Wales’s Stakes and Juddmonte International Stakes Mostahdaf.

Haggas also has a couple by Baaeed’s sire, Sea The Stars. The first of them is out of connections’ impressive Pretty Polly Stakes winner Maqsad, making him a brother to last year’s progressive middle-distance handicapper Mukhtalif, who was sold to Australia for 325,000gns last autumn. The other is a colt out of the Kingman mare Khayzaraan, a dual 1m 2yo winner in France who hails from the family of Irish Derby winner Santiago and Prix du Jockey Club third Motamarris.

There is also a Night of Thunder colt out of Manaajim, making him a half-brother to connections’ highly-progressive 2025 three-year-old sprinter Almareq, whose crashing fall in a Listed event at York last September put Shadwell’s retained jockey Jim Crowley out of action for a lengthy period of time. The dam herself is out of an unraced half-sister to Cheveley Park Stakes winner Fairyland and Australian 7f Group 2 winner Now Or Later.

Trainer Charlie Hills

Charlie Hills has been sent a couple of colts, including one by Baaeed out of French triple 1m Group 3 winner Tantheem, making him a half-brother to connections’ progressive 2025 three-year-old handicapper and Lincoln hopeful Elarak.

Finally, Roger Varian has been allocated a handful of two-year-olds, with there being more fillies than colts. There is a Frankel filly out of French 12.5f Group 2 winner Raabihah, herself a granddaughter of Eswarah, who won the Oaks for Varian’s former boss Michael Jarvis. He also has a Frankel colt out of connections’ 1m 3yo Listed winner Zanbaq, whose half-brother Field of Gold won the Irish 2000 Guineas last year.

He also takes charge of a Baaeed daughter of connections’ British Champion Fillies & Mares Stakes winner Eshaada, who is another to hail from the family of Tamayuz. There is also a Frankel filly out of their Hoppings Stakes winner Zeyaadah, rather aptly a daughter of Tamayuz.

All in all, it looks as though the majority of the Shadwell two-year-old crop will be the typical slow-maturing, second-half-of-the season types, but those by Minzaal especially ought to prove capable of making a more immediate impact.

FULL LIST

George Boughey

Unnamed (16/4 ch f Baaeed - Adool (Teofilo))

Unnamed (20/3 b c Mohaather - Altaayshah (Dark Angel))

Unnamed (12/3 b c Perfect Power - Perfect Muse (Oasis Dream))

Unnamed (21/3 b f Minzaal - Tajaanus (Arcano))

Owen Burrows

Esha’a (15/2 b f Minzaal - Hateya (Footstepsinthesand))

Unnamed (18/3 b c Wootton Bassett - Cava (Acclamation))

Unnamed (13/4 b f Frankel - Ettisaal (Dubawi))

Unnamed (4/4 b c Minzaal - Premiere Danseuse (Gold Away))

Unnamed (2/3 b f Nathaniel - Talaayeb (Dansili))

Unnamed (31/3 b c Baaeed - Waliyak (Le Havre))

Harry Eustace

Unnamed (28/2 b f Minzaal - Kidwah (Kodiac))

Unnamed (6/4 b c Baaeed - Moonlit Garden (Exceed And Excel))

Unnamed (19/4 b c Oasis Dream - Rayaheen (Nayef))

Unnamed (14/2 b f Kingman - Tarfasha (Teofilo))

John and Thady Gosden

Unnamed (18/3 b c Night of Thunder - Almareekh (War Front))

Unnamed (11/3 b f Baaeed - Enbihaar (Redoute’s Choice))

Unnamed (20/3 b c Baaeed - Give And Take (Cityscape))

Unnamed (1/3 b c Dubawi - Mehnah (Frankel))

Unnamed (14/2 b c Blue Point - Tatweej (Invincible Spirit))

Unnamed (17/3 b c Dubawi - Wasaayef (Kingman))

William Haggas

Unnamed (28/3 b c Sea The Stars - Khayzaraan (Kingman))

Unnamed (18/2 ch c Masar - Malathaat (Frankel))

Unnamed (6/3 ch c Night of Thunder - Manaajim (Muhaarar))

Unnamed (3/4 b c Sea The Stars - Maqsad (Siyouni))

Unnamed (3/4 b f Baaeed - Nazeef (Invincible Spirit))

Unnamed (16/4 b c Baaeed - Turret Rocks (Fastnet Rock))

Charlie Hills

Unnamed (19/3 b c Ghaiyyath - Efaadah (Dansili))

Unnamed (8/4 ch c Baaeed - Tantheem (Teofilo))

Roger Varian

Unnamed (20/2 b f Baaeed - Eshaada (Muhaarar))

Unnamed (14/4 b c Minzaal - Manaafith (Exceed And Excel))

Unnamed (9/4 b f Frankel - Raabihah (Sea The Stars))

Unnamed (18/2 br/gr c Frankel - Zanbaq (Oasis Dream))

Unnamed (4/4 b f Sea The Stars - Zeyaadah (Tamayuz))

More by Dan Briden

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