William Haggas has been in a rich vein of form all season, but Ajaya and Besharah bid to deliver his Newmarket stables their first Group One win of the campaign this afternoon.
Ajaya takes his chance in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes against Al Shaqab’s Shalaa, who could be the best colt in Europe after four wins this summer that culminated in victory in the Prix Morny at Deauville last month.
Ajaya’s task is made more difficult by the presence of four Godolphin runners, the best of which looks to be Royal Ascot victor Buratino.
At Ascot, in June, Ajaya was nowhere near the finished article while finishing seventh in the Norfolk Stakes. Since then, he has piled on the muscle and weighs in 45 kilograms heavier at 445kg.
With the ground drying out at Newmarket yesterday, when Godolphin’s Promising Run advertised her credentials for next season’s English 1,000 Guineas with a win in the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes, Haggas is hopeful of a big run.
“I am very happy with Ajaya. There is no doubt that he is a better horse on top of the ground,” he said.
“Shalaa will be very hard to beat, as there can be little argument that he has been the best two year old of the year so far, but we are going to have a horse race and if you are not in you can’t win.”
Haggas’s stable has been powered all season by UAE-owned horses, and Besharah holds a major chance in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes.
Sheikh Juma bin Dalmook’s Storm The Stars and Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s Adaay, Muthmir and Tasleet have flown the flag with credit for Haggas this season.
Sheikh Rashid bin Dalmook’s filly Besharah could provide the breakthrough at the highest level for the Newmarket trainer today when she takes her chance with Pat Cosgrave in the saddle.
It will not be easy. Lumiere – owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai – is held in the highest regard by trainer Mark Johnston, while Illuminate edged out Besharah by a nose when they met in the Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes in July.
“Besharah should run a great race on Saturday,” Haggas said.
“I could not be confident that she will turn the tables on Illuminate as I thought that Illuminate won the Duchess of Cambridge a bit better than the nose verdict suggested.
“These Group 1 races are always extremely hard to win, and I also have lots of respect for Lumiere.”
Prior to Promising Run’s victory for James Doyle and Saeed bin Suroor at Newmarket, Mahess Du Soleil became the 10th French-trained winner of the Group 1 UK Purebred Arabian Derby in the past 16 years.
Mahess Du Soleil and Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s Bon Baiser De Faust drew clear of the pack, but the four year old kept finding more under Richard Mullen to grind out the win by four-and-a-half lengths.
Mahess Du Soleil, trained by Thomas Fourcy, could now head to the Breeders’ Cup at the end of next month or contest the Qatar Arabian World Cup at Longchamp on the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe card next Sunday.
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