HORSERACING – PHANTOM Flight secured a fourth Listed success last night at Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club (REHC) after winning the Al Adiyat Cup, sponsored by Bareeq, in round three of the 2025-26 Bahrain Turf Series.
In doing so, he delivered a performance that left his trainer George Scott purring with delight.
Ridden by Callum Shepherd, the Victorious Forever-owned seven-year-old put up arguably a career-best effort in demolishing the high-class field in the 1,800m race.
The eventual runner-up, beaten four lengths, was Hi Royal with Panning for Gold staying on for third.
In attendance during yesterday’s events were His Majesty the King’s humanitarian work and youth affairs representative and Supreme Council for Youth and Sports (SCYS) chairman Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Supreme Council for Environment vice-president, REHC High Committee deputy chairman, and SCYS member Shaikh Faisal bin Rashid Al Khalifa, among other high-ranking officials.
“I was so happy with him today, he was electric, wasn’t he?” Scott said after the race. “I thought that was the performance of a horse at the top of his game.
“I want to thank our amazing team out here – the girls have been coming out each year and Rosie Jessop rides Phantom Flight every day, she’s just completely invaluable to us, knows the horse so well, and she clearly had him spot on today.”
The $80,000 Listed race was run at a strong pace set by Signalman, with Phantom Flight tracking Hi Royal who sat second, but as soon as Shepherd asked Phantom Flight to lengthen in the home straight, there was only one winner.
“The race went beautifully, it was a strong field, and he dealt with them very well,” said Shepherd. “We were on the hip of Hi Royal throughout and then he kept extending all the way to the line when I asked him.
“He loves it here and he’s just grown up again this year. He became quite tricky to ride towards the end of last season and then he was almost horizontally laid back in the summer, but we seem to have found a nice middle ground. Today, he was very responsive but relaxed at the same time.”
In the Bahrain Turf Series’ sprint division, a change in headgear and tactics did the trick for Another Baar, who found another level of form to spring a surprise in the $80,000 Al Wasmiya Cup, sponsored by National Bank of Bahrain, beating the in-form Chandigah, who had won the previous round of the Bahrain Turf Series. Another international runner, Partisan Hero, trained by David Loughnane, finished in third.
Another Baar racked up four straight wins inside a fortnight in the UK last year but he had struggled to make much of an impression in Bahrain in his first two runs in the kingdom. However, following a piece of work under jockey Benoit de la Sayette, his trainer Adrian Keatley decided to remove the blinkers and apply different tactics for the horse’s return to 1,000m.
“I galloped him in the week and he felt so well we thought to try him without the blinkers and just ride him a bit differently,” said de la Sayette. “So, instead of getting him up there, I just put the handbrake on coming out, got some cover and a lovely lead. And when push came to shove, he quickened up really nicely and he hit the line really strong. It could not have worked out any better and its nice for him to get his head back in front.
“These Bahrain Turf Series are brilliant races, really competitive, and so it means a lot to win one of them.”
The victory was a second Bahrain Turf Series success for de la Sayette following Nesthorn’s win in December. And it was a fourth consecutive win in the last seven days for North Yorkshire trainer Keatley after successes in the UK.
Spanning December to March and comprising 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 at the end of the season.
The next round takes place on January 29 as part of the two-day HRH the Crown Prince’s Cup Festival.
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