MEMORIES of a wonderful weekend in Paris for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe came flooding back when I ran into Seamus and Terese Phelan at Ballylinch Stud on Saturday during the ITM Irish Stallion Trail. The owners of Weylands Stud had broad smiles on their faces, and all thanks to a three-year-old colt named Al Haram (Iffraaj).

If you put the name Al Haram into the main racing databases you will probably find him listed as being trained by Richard Fahey and being unraced. Not so. In fact, he is in Saudi Arabia and unbeaten in three starts, trained there by Thamer Aldaihani for owner Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Almalek Alsabah. No wonder that Shem and Terese were smiling, as earlier on Saturday Al Haram earned a place in next month’s Saudi Derby when he landed that Kingdom’s 2000 Guineas.

The same owner-trainer combination won the Saudi 2000 Guineas last year with a colt who, also on Saturday, booked his place in the Group 1 Saudi Cup which will be run on February 14th. They look to have another star on their hands after Al Haram’s devastating success in the weekend’s classic. He had won both of his previous starts over a mile, but took his form to a new level on this occasion. Slowly away, Al Haram left himself with a seemingly impossible task, but he found another gear and surged through the field to win in impressive fashion by seven and a quarter lengths.

While the Saudi 2000 Guineas does not carry blacktype, the Saudi Derby certainly does, and what a boost it would be for the colt’s pedigree should he go on to win that international Group 3 contest with a prize fund of $1.5 million. It is also a qualification event, earning points for the Road to the Kentucky Derby. What a dream it would be should that become a reality.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of a close relation to Al Haram, and the best horse bred by the Phelans, being crowned the champion sprinter in Europe. Al Haram is the first foal out of a full-sister to Limato (Tagula). She is the unraced Liberamente, and as her first mate at stud the Phelans chose Iffraaj (Zafonic), a proven stallion whose tally of Group 1 winners now stands at 13. Additionally, he is the sire of Wootton Bassett, one of the best stallions of recent times and whose death last year was a major blow for the industry.

Rewarded

Advertised in 2022 for a fee of £17,500 at Dalham Hall Stud, the Phelans were rewarded when the colt that Liberamente produced on February 22nd the following year sold at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale for a tasty £150,000, making him one of a dozen yearlings at the sale to bring that price or more. Al Haram has now begun to make that investment look worthwhile, and with hopes of more to come.

Liberamente’s second offspring is the two-year-old colt, Clink (Dark Angel), and he sold for 30,000gns to Heather Main Racing last October in Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Sale. Waiting in the wings is a yearling son of Mehmas (Acclamation), while the mare is due this spring to New Bay (Dubawi). A final decision on who Liberamente visits this spring is yet to be made.

Limato earned a number of awards for Shem and Terese Phelan during his racing career, one that saw him win every year he raced from two until he was eight. He was in the winners’ enclosure 14 times for trainer Henry Candy, all but one of those victories being gained in Britain. The exception was the Group 1 Prix de la Foret at Chantilly, and that came three months after he landed the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket. He was second four times in Group 1 races, but always to an exceptional runner – Harry Angel, Mecca’s Angel, Make Believe and Muhaarar.

Debut win

Liberamente is one of 10 foals produced by Come April (Singspiel). Bred by Martin Lighbody, she sold as a foal for 52,000gns to Paul Webber. She won on her debut at three in a 10-furlong maiden on the all-weather at Lingfield, trained by Sir Mark Prescott for Faisal Salman. Come April was not seen then for more than two years, reappearing at five, trained by Webber, and carrying the silks of Denford Stud. She was well beaten on both outings that year, and make her next appearance at the Doncaster December Sale where she sold for £3,800. What value that has proven to be.

Mind you, Come April’s start at stud was not what Shem and Terese wanted, and her first foal, a full-brother to Limato, died as a yearling. Things picked up, and Limato sold to Peter and Ross Doyle for £41,000, joining Richard Hannon but never racing for that trainer. Henry Candy obviously knew what he had, because Limato’s year younger half-sister, Limonata (Bushranger), sold to him for 90,000gns as a yearling.

This led to a series of smart prices for her offspring, and Come April is now responsible for four winners. She herself is one of five winners from the unraced So Admirable (Suave Dancer), a full-sister to Group 1 Eclipse Stakes winner Compton Admirable, and a half-sister to Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner Summoner (Inchinor). Their Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes runner-up sibling Twyla Tharp (Sadler’s Wells) made her mark at stud, responsible for four-time Group 1 winner The Fugue (Dansili).