HORSERACING – RALPH Beckett’s talented Pride Of Arras is set to be supplemented for the 2025 Bahrain International Trophy.
The Group Two race with a prize fund of $1 million takes place on Friday next week at Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club (REHC), and Pride Of Arras will join runners from Britain, Ireland, France, the UAE, and Bahrain, competing in the kingdom’s most valuable race.
Pride Of Arras is a two-time Group Two winner, having won both the Dante Stakes and Great Voltigeur Stakes at York. The two races are among the most prestigious three-year-old only contests run in Britain.
The three-year-old gelding has not raced since his win at York’s Ebor Festival in August and so will be seeking to overcome a 12-week absence. However, trainer Beckett is confident fitness will not be an issue as he prepares to saddle his first runner in the Bahrain International Trophy.
“Pride Of Arras worked well at the weekend and he is ready to go,” said Beckett. “I think the race is a good spot for him; a mile and a quarter on good ground will suit.
“He’s a gelding and he’ll be staying in training, so the aim is to enjoy racing him and as such we are really looking forward to Bahrain.”
Joining Pride Of Arras on the plane to Bahrain will be three other British-trained runners, led by seven-year-old Royal Champion, trained by Karl Burke, along with the four-year-old Persica, trained by Richard Hannon, and five-year-old Lion’s Pride, trained by John and Thady Gosden. The Gosdens have trained the runner-up in the Bahrain International Trophy on four occasions from six runnings of the race, most recently with the subsequent Group One winner Lead Artist, who finished second to Spirit Dancer in 2024.
Andre Fabre, like the Gosdens, has been a long-time supporter of the Bahrain International Trophy and the 30-time champion trainer in France is back again this year with Bright Picture, who was last seen finishing third at ParisLongchamp in the Prix Dollar (Group Two).
In December of last year, victory by the Gavin Cromwell trained Snellen in the opening round of the Bahrain Turf Series gave Ireland their first-ever winner in the kingdom and hoping to build on that success is Galen, trained by Joseph O’Brien, who will be the sole Irish representative in this year’s Bahrain International Trophy.
Galen ran arguably his best race when runner-up at Royal Ascot in June in the Wolverton Stakes, a race run over 2,000 metres on a right-handed track on good, fast ground, and he is set to meet similar conditions in Bahrain.
The UAE will be represented by Military Order, owned by Godolphin and trained by Charlie Appleby. The son of Frankel, who was strongly fancied for the 2023 Derby at Epsom, came back to winning form earlier this year and on his last run at Windsor in August was runner-up to Silawi, who subsequently boosted the form when taking a Grade One at Woodbine in Canada next time out.
This year, the locally trained horses have perhaps their best chance of winning the Bahrain International Trophy since the race achieved international pattern status in 2021. Trainer Fawzi Nass will saddle Calif in the colours of Victorious Forever and Jaber Ramadhan runs Sovereign Spirit for Al Afoo Racing.
A Group One winner in Germany when trained in Europe, Calif finished third in last year’s Bahrain International Trophy, meanwhile Sovereign Spirit showed improved form and rounded off a successful domestic season when winning the Group Three His Majesty The King’s Cup in March.
The 2025 running of the Bahrain International Trophy takes place on Friday next week under the floodlights of REHC, scheduled for 7.40pm.
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