HORSERACING – The 2026 running of the Bahrain International Trophy is shaping up to be an event worthy of its new Group One status.
Run over 2,000 metres with a prize fund of $1.5million, the race has attracted a stellar cast of runners, with horses from France, Ireland, the UAE, and Britain booked to travel for what will be a landmark day in Bahrain as the kingdom stages its first Group One.
The 2026 Bahrain International Trophy takes place on November 13 at Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club (REHC).
Intended runners include Group One winner and the race’s defending champion Royal Champion, dual Derby winner Lambourn and Wimbledon Hawkeye, runner-up in the Group One Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes and a subsequent Group Two winner.
France is set to travel a powerful four-strong team, featuring representatives from the country’s racing dynasties.
The squad is led by a duo trained by Andre and Lavinia Fabre in Phineas and Baroud, and joined by Zaydann, trained by Francis-Henri Graffard for the Aga Khan Studs, and Pearled Majesty, trained by Mauricio Delcher Sanchez for part-owner Criquette Head.
Last year’s third-placed horse Military Order will represent Godolphin and Charlie Appleby.
Also flying in from Dubai will be Sallaal, set to be a first Group One runner in his own name for trainer Ed Crisford.
Carrying the colours of the late Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum, Sallaal is a progressive four-year-old and winner of his last three races.
The British contingent is completed by two horses trained by Hugo Palmer, including Glacius, a Grade One winner at Saratoga, and Seagulls Eleven, who finished just behind Wimbledon Hawkeye at Paris Longchamp on his last start and is owned by a syndicate made up of past and present players of Premier League football team Brighton and Hove Albion.
Two slots in the Bahrain International Trophy are reserved for domestically trained runners and these are set to be filled by Sovereign Spirit, a past winner of both His Majesty The King’s Cup and His Royal Highness The Crown Prince’s Cup, and Hi Royal, previously placed in two European classics and who enjoyed a successful 2025-26 season in Bahrain.
On the same day as the Bahrain International Trophy, REHC will stage the first running of the Gulf of Bahrain Cup, an open handicap worth $400,000, run over 2,800m.
The race has attracted a truly international and competitive field, with several Stakes performers among the intended runners, including Karl Burke’s high-class stayer Al Qareem, who will join stablemate and last year’s winner of the Bahrain International Trophy Royal Champion on the journey from Yorkshire to Bahrain.
Willie Mullins and Joseph O’Brien have two intended runners apiece. The Mullins-trained pair are Gaucher and The Reverend, while O’Brien is set to saddle Emit and A Piece Of Heaven.
The only three-year-old in the frame for the Gulf of Bahrain Cup is Space Waltz, trained in France by Andre and Lavinia Fabre.
Space Waltz has been a runner-up in both a Group Two and a Group Three and went through the sales ring at the Arqana Arc Sale in October, where he was bought by Ace Stud for €1.15million.
The domestically based horses in the Gulf of Bahrain Cup include Tarriance, a recent purchase from Andrew Balding’s yard by Al Adiyat Racing, now in the care of Daniel and Claire Kubler, who are also likely to saddle Westridge.
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