Godolphin strike gold in Bahrain!
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Charlie Appleby and Richard Mullen teamed up to give Godolphin a big race double on a wind-swept afternoon at Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club in Sakhir yesterday.
In the Listed Crown Prince’s Cup (sponsored by Howden), a strong field of 15 went to post, but Warren Point spread-eagled the field to run out a comprehensive winner of one of Bahrain’s most prestigious races.
Warren Point didn’t run at two but made fast progress as a three-year-old, winning a valuable handicap at the 2022 Goodwood Festival before stepping up to Listed company to win the Floodlit Stakes at Kempton at the end of October.
Carrying a three-lb penalty for that success, Mullen positioned the son of Dubawi just off the pace and after traveling powerfully into the race, he quickened clear of his rivals.
Last year’s second Tawaareq filled the same position this time round, with Byline back in third.
Appleby said following the race: “It has been a good day for the team and delighted to come home with two horses that we hoped would be competitive.
“Warren Point was a horse I had always hoped would turn into a nice horse and he is building up the profile into a nice horse now.
They went a good gallop and that pleased me as that was one thing we’ve seen is that he is effective over 10 and 12 furlongs so stamina wasn’t going to be a concern.”
Richard Mullen last rode in Bahrain three years ago and flew in from Dubai for the day to ride both Godolphin-owned horses.
Following success on Warren Point he said: “He’s a talented horse, he’s got low mileage and he is coming off the back of a Listed win in the UK.
He had all the form in the book to come here but they’ve got to come and do it.
The main thing with him is that he just got into a nice rhythm as he can be quite gassy in his races but they went a nice pace and I was able to just track them.
“He’ll be an exciting horse going forward for some of these races around the GCC or he could get some more black type in Europe over the summer.”
Double
In the £60,000 Anchorman Cup, King Of Conquest was the first leg of a Godolphin double.
The four-year-old broke the existing track record to give Godolphin and Appleby a first victory in this season’s Bahrain Turf Series.
Mullen settled King Of Conquest just off the pace but pulled the son of Lope De Vega out as they turned for home and he found plenty for Mullen’s urgings to win by one-length.
Classical Wave, who won this race last year, stayed on to be second with Keith Dalgleish’s What’s The Story running his best race in Bahrain to date, finishing third under Callum Rodriguez.
After the race, Appleby said: “We hoped stepping up King of Conquest to nine-furlongs would suit him and bring about further improvement which it did.
The ground was quick enough for him so it was a brave performance.
“They were two great rides by Richard today and I would also like to thank the Bahrain Turf Club for putting on a good event.
For us to be able to come over and participate is great and to have a couple of winners is even better!” Mullen added: “It was a very good performance.
He broke very well and I was always in a nice position and always happy.
Just as the race started to develop down the hill I was mindful that I didn’t want to ask him too many serious questions early on.
“Once I swung into the straight, you have another element which is the headwind. He then quickened away, and I think he’s broken the track record so it was an impressive performance.”
In the second Bahrain Turf Series race of the day, The Hawar Cup run over six furlongs (1200m), Deep Intrigue bounced back to the form which saw him win Al Wasmiya Cup as part of the 2021/22 Turf Series by seeing off the challenge of Dairerin.
The seven-year-old, formerly trained in England by Mark Johnston, was having his first run for trainer Hesham Al Haddad in 350 days and it was a significant winner for young Omani jockey Anas bin Salim Al Siyabi.
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