Bahrain Turf Club
BAHRAIN – A top-class card featuring His Royal Highness The Crown Prince’s Cup, sponsored by Howden, and the penultimate races in the Bahrain Turf Series, The Anchorman Cup and The Hawar Cup, will take place this Friday, 3rd February, marking one of the most significant days in the Bahrain horse racing season.
The Crown Prince’s Cup, sponsored by Howden, runs over 1m 2f (2000m), is an internationally listed race, and is one of the principal races in the Kingdom, along with the Bahrain International Trophy in November and His Majesty The King’s Cup in March. The partnership between The Bahrain Turf Club and Howden strengthens in its second year, reflecting Bahrain’s emergence as a major force in the world of horse racing and Howden’s status in this field as a specialist provider of equine insurance.
His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Chairman of The Bahrain Turf Club said: “I would like to thank Howden for their continued support of His Royal Highness The Crown Prince’s Cup. The continued advancement of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s horse racing sector is highlighted by the support from a renowned international sponsor.”
“I would also like to thank His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for Godolphin’s ongoing support. The feature of top-quality horses, trained by Britain’s Champion trainer Charlie Appleby, in the Bahrain Turf Series and The Crown Prince’s Cup, raises the quality of Bahrain’s horse racing competitions and highlights the importance of further growing the sector at an international level.”
This year, The Crown Prince’s Cup boasts an extremely high-class field with 15 horses declared to run made up of both locally and internationally trained horses. Godolphin have two runners on the day with Warren Point lining up in the Listed contest. The four-year-old gelding was last seen to success at Kempton in October and his trainer Charlie Appleby spoke of his chances. He said: “Warren Point is in great shape; his form is over 1m 2f and 1m 4f and here he is dropping back to 1m 2f. He is drawn sensibly enough (five) and they will go a good gallop which should suit him and if not he is quite happy to make his own gallop. With what he has achieved to date he should be very competitive. As always it is exciting to have runners in Bahrain and hopefully, we can walk away with a winner, or two!”
Lucander trained by George Baker, a winner over 1m 2f in the opening Bahrain Turf Series race and the Roger Fell-trained Marie’s Diamond make up the field of the internationally trained horses.
One of Bahrain’s leading trainers Allan Smith is no stranger to getting horses ready for the big days in the Bahrain horse racing season. He has three go to post in The Crown Prince’s Cup, Byline, Recovery Run and Glen Savage. Smith updated on his runners and said: “I’ve got Byline who we’re stepping up in trip. He’s been running over 1m for the last couple of seasons, but he’s always looked to me as though he is crying out for a bit further. He ran over 1800m last time in the Turf Series race, and he just got a bit far out of his ground. He had to come from too far back and he finished fourth. He was still finishing and running on, so if we can get a handier position with him early on, we fancy him a lot.”
On Recovery Run and Glen Savage, he added: “Since the last time he raced he has been castrated so we’re hoping that has turned him around a little bit. He has come through it very good, and he seems a lot happier. Then we’ve got Glen Savage who is a good horse who won last time over 2800m, but he’s still acclimatising, and he’s been doing some nice work. We’re very happy with him and he’s a nice horse, we just need a bit of luck in-running.”
Meanwhile, competition is building in the Bahrain Turf Series. Locally trained horses and the European challengers have had a chance to get on the board and this Friday features two more £60,000 handicaps, The Anchorman Cup over 9 furlongs (1800m) and The Hawar Cup, over a straight 6 furlongs (1200m).
Godolphin are represented in The Anchorman Cup by King Of Conquest who makes up a field of 16. A winner last time out, the Charlie Appleby-trained four-year-old will be stepping up in distance which his trainer is hoping will bring about more improvement. Charlie Appleby said: “He is stepping up in trip which I think will suit him and 9 furlongs should be the ideal trip. He is drawn 10 and with what he has achieved to date you’d hope he will be very competitive with conditions that will suit him.”
A field of 18 go to post in The Hawar Cup and the George Baker-trained Watchya will be hoping to go one better having finished second last time out on his first start in Bahrain over the same distance. Andrea Atzeni takes the ride and has high hopes for the race, he said: “Watchya ran a very good race on his first start in Bahrain when he was second. He hasn’t run since then, but the vibes are good and apparently, he’s been working well. If he turns up, he could be very hard to beat.”
The three feature races will be available to watch live on Racing TV and via live stream on The Bahrain Turf Club website. The Anchorman Cup is at 11:45 am UK time, The Hawar Cup at 12:15 pm UK time and The Crown Prince’s Cup at 12:45 pm UK time.
