Sheikh Hamdan has played a sporting hand with Taghrooda. Instead of running her in last week’s Irish Oaks against her own gender she bids to become the first three-year-old filly for 38 years to win the British mid-summer highlight.
It is not an easy assignment. Telescope, the impressive Hardwicke Stakes winner, vies for favouritism and Eagle Top, another Royal Ascot winner, lies in wait. Godolphin will be represented by Trading Leather, while Romsdal runs in the silks of Princess Haya.
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It was Taghrooda’s victory in the English Oaks over Saturday night’s 2,400-metre distance that was the deciding factor for jockey Paul Hanagan, who has ridden Mukhadram in all 13 of his starts. Dane O’Neill deputise Saturday.
Where Taghrooda is a certain stayer, Mukhradram is yet to prove himself at a distance over 2,000m. Where Taghrooda is flashy, Mukhadram is dour. Where Taghrooda could well be the next big thing after her effortless victory at Epsom last month, it took Mukhradram six attempts to win at Group 1 level. Even the blood running through Taghrooda’s veins is of a more purple hue than that of the yeoman Mukhadram.
Taghrooda is by Sea The Stars, a horse who slashed his way through the British programme in 2009 to register six Group 1s in as many months. His standard is not only carried this season by Taghrooda, but by Sea The Moon, his son who is amongst the favourites for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe after his easy victory in the German Derby this month.
Mukhadram is by Shamardal, the French Derby winner, but his chances of being born were slim as Magic Tree, his dam, was one of only 55 horses foaled in the UAE in 2002. Since Magic Tree was born, in Dubai, the breeding of thoroughbreds has declined in inverse proportion to the rise of Purebred Arabians.
There were 294 Purebred Arabians born in the UAE in 2002 but, according to the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, 668 Purebred Arabians were bred in the UAE a decade later. In contrast, no thoroughbreds were bred at all in the UAE two seasons ago, only one a year before that, and one 12 months prior to that.
It was a fluke that Magic Tree was even used as a brood mare, too. She raced only once, and finished 13th of 16, but was picked up by David Loder, a former trainer for Godolphin, for a mere 2,800 guineas. Loder knew that Alan Kent, his friend and a successful polo player, was on the lookout for ponies and Kent decided to train her for chukkas rather than racecourses.
“I spent two years training her for polo,” Kent said. “She showed a lot of promise, too, but then her relations started winning big races and I had to have a re-think. I was quite upset at the time, but it was a better proposition to have her producing racehorses.”
Magic Tree’s more illustrious relations included Kirklees, who won the 2009 Group York Stakes, and Mastery, who won the English St Leger in the same year.
Kent transferred Magic Tree from his polo farm in West Sussex to Alvediston Stud in Salisbury, where she first produced Entihaa in 2008. Mukhadram followed in 2009 and Woodland Aria, who was last behind Euro Charline in the Listed Valiant Stakes here yesterday, was foaled in 2010. Siblings by Nayef, Sea The Stars and Oasis Dream, have followed.
Mukhadram was sold by Kent and Andrew Wardall, his business partner, for 190,000 guineas, a price which Kent believes to be a solid piece of business. With Alice, his daughter, now working for William Haggas, Mukhadram’s trainer, Kent can scarcely believe the symmetry.
“I was over the moon at his sale price and one of the world’s most powerful owners bought him,” he added. “I still get as much excitement when he runs as if I own him. I am meant to be at the Audi International Polo down the road at the Guard’s Polo Club, but I might just slip out and watch him run at Ascot.
“Both Mukhadram and Woodland Aria have run at the past two Royal Ascots, and I was there this year to see him finish fourth in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.
“It is a fairy tale.”
sports@thenational.ae
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RECORD BREAKER
Youngest debutant for Barcelona: 15 years and 290 days v Real Betis
Youngest La Liga starter in the 21st century: 16 years and 38 days v Cadiz
Youngest player to register an assist in La Liga in the 21st century: 16 years and 45 days v Villarreal
Youngest debutant for Spain: 16 years and 57 days v Georgia
Youngest goalscorer for Spain: 16 years and 57 days
Youngest player to score in a Euro qualifier: 16 years and 57 days
The biog
Favourite car: Ferrari
Likes the colour: Black
Best movie: Avatar
Academic qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in media production from the Higher Colleges of Technology and diploma in production from the New York Film Academy
Afghanistan squad
Gulbadin Naib (captain), Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Glossary of a stock market revolution
Reddit
A discussion website
Redditor
The users of Reddit
Robinhood
A smartphone app for buying and selling shares
Short seller
Selling a stock today in the belief its price will fall in the future
Short squeeze
Traders forced to buy a stock they are shorting
Naked short
An illegal practice
Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
ALL THE RESULTS
Bantamweight
Siyovush Gulmomdov (TJK) bt Rey Nacionales (PHI) by decision.
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) bt Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR) by submission.
Catch 74kg
Omar Hussein (JOR) bt Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) by decision.
Strawweight (Female)
Seo Ye-dam (KOR) bt Weronika Zygmunt (POL) by decision.
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli (TUR) bt Walid Laidi (ALG) by TKO.
Lightweight
Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) bt Leandro Martins (BRA) by TKO.
Welterweight
Ahmad Labban (LEB) bt Sofiane Benchohra (ALG) by TKO.
Bantamweight
Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR) no contest.
Lightweight
Mohammed Yahya (UAE) bt Glen Ranillo (PHI) by TKO round 1.
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) bt Aidan Aguilera (AUS) by TKO round 1.
Welterweight
Mounir Lazzez (TUN) bt Sasha Palatkinov (HKG) by TKO round 1.
Featherweight title bout
Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) by KO round 1.
The view from The National
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
Rooney's club record
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
Disturbing facts and figures
51% of parents in the UAE feel like they are failing within the first year of parenthood
57% vs 43% is the number of mothers versus the number of fathers who feel they’re failing
28% of parents believe social media adds to the pressure they feel to be perfect
55% of parents cannot relate to parenting images on social media
67% of parents wish there were more honest representations of parenting on social media
53% of parents admit they put on a brave face rather than being honest due to fear of judgment
Source: YouGov