HORSERACING – CLASSIC placed Hi Royal rediscovered his winning form with a convincing victory in the Al Dana Cup (sponsored by Al Salam Bank) round two in the middle-distance category of the Bahrain Turf Series at the Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club (REHC) in Al Raffah yesterday.
It was the gelding’s first win since 2022, when he scored in a novice race at Ayr, and only the second of his career.
In the colours of Al Mohamediya Racing and ridden by Neil Callan for trainer Kevin Ryan, Hi Royal won by 3 ¼ lengths from Irish raider Cloud Seeker with Phoenix Passion in third. It was a first winner in the kingdom for Ryan who trained Hi Royal to be runner-up in the English 2000 Guineas and third in the Irish version.
Present at the event was Prime Minister’s Court Minister and REHC High Committee chairman Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
The event was also attended by Supreme Council for the Environment vice president and REHC High Committee deputy chairman Shaikh Faisal bin Rashid bin Isa Al Khalifa and Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali Al Khalifa, Governor of the Southern Governorate.
Speaking after the race, jockey Callan said: “To be winning in these colours in the Kingdom of Bahrain, it’s always very special, but to do so for my old friend Kevin Ryan, it’s a bit more special. This horse has a lot of ability, he was placed in two 2000 Guineas, so off a rating of 97 he was bound to come good at some stage.”
Having finished runner-up in round one and now with victory in round two, Hi Royal heads the leaderboard in the middle-distance races of the Bahrain Turf Series. Spanning December to March and comprised of six sprint races and six middle-distance races, each contest in the Bahrain Turf Series is worth a minimum of $80,000, with a further $40,000 available in bonuses for the leading horse in each category.
Round two in the Sprint series went to Chandigah, who was a wide margin winner of the 1200m race under jockey, Szczepan Mazur, for trainer Mahmood Jawad. Finishing second and running a promising race on his Bahrain debut was Commanche Falls, in the hands of Paul Mulrennan for Michael Dods, with Dubai Bling for trainer Hugo Palmer in third, filling the same spot as he did a fortnight ago in round one.
Speaking after the race, Polish ride Szczepan Mazur said: “I had a very good trip and passage. His form before was good and I was pleased with my draw on the stands side. To be honest, he (Chandigah) made it easy for me. It’s a great race to win.”
Earlier on the card, the domestic Grade 2 Southern Governorate Cup over 1,400m went to an international challenger in the form of No Retreat, who provided trainer George Scott with his second win of Bahrain’s current season and jockey Callum Shepherd his third. Carrying the colours of Victorious Forever, No Retreat was a convincing winner, coming home 3 ½ lengths clear of Bussento.
The next round of Bahrain Turf Series races is on January 16.
Earlier, Istanbul, owned by Al Adiyat Racing, claimed the Bahrain Bourse Cup after powering to victory past Bairaq, of Al Afoo Racing. The winner was trained by Daniel and Claire Kubler and ridden by Ebrahim Nader.
Dream Out Loud, owned by Hasan Mefareh Alajmi, emerged winner in the race for the Charles Russell Speechlys Cup, seeing off Mearall, of Al Mohamediya Racing.
Son Of Zous, of M and E Racing, was the winner of the fifth race of the day while Sabraj, owned by Sayed Nasser Hashem Habib, claimed victory in the second race.
The opening race of the day was won by Al Shawaf 1956, owned by Al Roudha.
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