Godolphin horses target turf series race wins

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A group of three horses are making the trip from UAE to Bahrain to take their chances in the final Bahrain Turf Series races on Friday 18th February.

Two Godolphin-owned horses, Silent Film and Tamborrada, will line up for trainer Charlie Appleby and Simon and Ed Crisford will have one representative, Urgent Appeal.

The Godolphin pair, both to be ridden by James Doyle, will be the first Charlie Appleby trained runners in the Bahrain Turf Series.

However, Appleby is no stranger to running horses in Bahrain having supported the last two renewals of the Bahrain International Trophy.

Appleby will be looking for a first success at the Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club, having narrowly missed out with Barney Roy who finished second behind Lord Glitters in the 2021 renewal of the £500,000 Group 3 Bahrain International Trophy.

Of the two Appleby runners, Silent Film, a winner last time out at Meydan, will run in the Al Sakhir Cup over 1400m and the lightly raced Tamborrada will take his chances in the 2000m Vision 2030 Cup.

Both races have a prize fund of £50,000.

Ahead of his horses running on Friday, Appleby said: “Silent Film, who was last seen winning in Dubai, has got a nice progressive profile and we felt the conditions of the race will be suited to him off the back of how he has come out of his race in Dubai.

We are confident he will be a big player on Friday.

“Tamborrada also has a nice profile and while he is coming off a long layoff his preparation has gone very well.

It has always been the plan to bring him for this race and we feel that 10 furlongs are fine for him and in time he will step up in the trip. He is fresh and well for a race that we have targeted for some time now.”

On targeting the Bahrain Turf Series, Appleby added: “We campaign heavily in Dubai over the winter and the benefit of the Bahrain Turf Series is that it brings a different dimension to the race programme for us which is very much on our doorstep. From a European point of view, it is a great option to have”.

Simon and Ed Crisford’s Urgent Appeal will line up in the Al Sakhir Cup. Ed Crisford will be in Bahrain to watch Urgent Appeal and is looking forward to being part of the Bahrain Turf Series.

Ed Crisford said: “Our stable is delighted to support the inaugural Bahrain Turf Series and the races have been hugely competitive with really good prize money on offer so we are looking forward to being part of it. “We were looking for a horse to run in Bahrain and this race over seven furlongs suits Urgent Appeal perfectly.

He had been winning over this trip in France so we are bringing him from Dubai to take his chances.

He ran over six furlongs in Dubai which was a bit sharp for him so this trip should suit him perfectly.

He is in great form and should run well in what looks to be another very competitive race.”

The fields for the final two Bahrain Turf Series races are made up of both international and locally trained horses with local trainers Allan Smith and Hesham Al Haddad hoping they can continue to dominate the Series.

Following the running of the final two Bahrain Turf Series races, the horses with the leading overall points from the series will be decided. £25,000 in prize money will be given to the owner and trainer of the horse that has accumulated the most points during the Series in each distance category, split as £15,000 to the winning owner and £10,000 to the winning trainer.

A total of £50,000 additional prize money.

As things stand Happy Craf, owner M & E Racing and trainer Allan Smith are currently top of pot A (6/7f ) and Arqoob leads pot B (9/10f ) for owner Little Staughton Farms Ltd and trainer William Jarvis.