LUCKY for some. What is? The number 13. It certainly was last week when I visited the first international race meeting held in Bahrain, as it became the 13th country in the world in which I have been racing.

The inaugural £500,000 Bahrain International Trophy had nine international runners, the first time in history that horses have travelled to the state of Bahrain to compete, and five locally-trained horses were set to defend home honour.

British-based Charlie Hills, Jane Chapple-Hyam, Roger Varian, Andrew Balding, Paul D’Arcy and John Gosden supported the race with runners, while German trainer Andreas Suborics along with the French duo of Fabrice Chappet and Jerome Reynier sent challengers. The latter emerged victorious with the Irish-bred Royal Julius, with Gosden’s Turgenev among a number of runners who could be described as being ‘nearest at the finish’.

Special mention for the local runner and third-place finisher Rustang, a French-bred son of Holy Roman Emperor who almost stole the race and was still clear with a furlong or so to run. Running in the colours of Shaikh Isa’s Al Adiyat Racing, this Allan Smith-trained gelding had a late rider change. Intended jockey Gerald Mosse was injured earlier in the day and was substituted on a couple of rides, including a winner, by Lee Newman.

Bahrain’s King Hamad has a long-standing commitment to promoting equestrian sports among Bahrain’s youth, stressing that the Kingdom’s equestrian tradition reflects its Arab and national heritage. Racing enjoys royal patronage.

Spearheading this new initiative is H.H. Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who was appointed deputy chair of the Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club’s High Committee in April 2014. The appointment certainly brought a new impetus to racing in the Kingdom of Bahrain and, as a consequence, Shaikh Isa’s drive and ambition for the sport led to the realisation of this first international race.

Shaikh Isa sponsors racing too and is a leading owner. He was present at the races to celebrate with winning connections, handing over the specially designed House of Garrard silver trophy to owner Jean-Jacques Biarese.

History of racing in Bahrain

HORSES have always been part of Bahraini culture. A unique collection of purebred Arabian horses has been preserved on the island for over 200 years by the rulers of Bahrain.

Historically, racing was conducted at private meetings and all horses were Arabians. In 1948, a committee was formed to have horse racing conducted under one umbrella. With the support of the Bahraini royal family, which endures today, racing prospered and in 1977 the Amir of Bahrain issued a decree to establish the Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club (REHC) as the only racing authority in the state.

REHC is recognised internationally as the governing body for horse racing in Bahrain. It administers all aspects of the sport, including the rules of racing, the registration of horses, the licensing of jockeys, officials and stable personnel, and administers the internationally approved Stud Book. REHC is a member of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities and the Asian Racing Federation.

With the establishment of REHC, and with keen interest from and the support of the royal family and the people of Bahrain, racing has grown from a small track and stand in the capital Manama to Riffa in the first instance and then to the present site in Raffa in 1981. The sole racecourse is at Sakhir.

The Bahrain International Trophy

THE 14 runners for the first Bahrain International Trophy over 10 furlongs on turf were selected from an original entry of some 46 international horses, along with local nominations. All entries had a rating of 95 or more in their own country. Best known for framing the weights for the Aintree Grand National and in his former role as senior handicapper with the British Horseracing Authority, Phil Smith was the man tasked with getting the numbers down to the maximum field size of 14.

Smith was involved with the framing of the race, and advised on its timing, distance and weight scale. Three-year-olds were set the task of carrying 56kg, with older horses saddled with 2kg more. While he was the architect of the race conditions, Smith was pleasantly taken aback by the level of support for a new race in a new location.

Every incentive was available to attract runners, with all costs of transport – for horses and connections – being paid for by the REHC. Everyone who travelled was of one voice when it came to the hospitality on offer – it was second to none. The Four Seasons was the hub for most who travelled, including this fortunate writer, and all agreed that this was a hugely creditable first effort by the REHC.

Speaking afterwards to people intimately involved with the organisation and running of the event, they are not resting on their laurels and intend to build on this initial outing. Anyone who participated will be sure to recommend a visit and Irish trainers and owners would be especially welcome for the 2020 renewal.

One man who played a key role in making this a winner was the International Racing Bureau’s director of racecourse services, Adrian Beaumont. If anyone in international racing is worth knowing, Adrian has their number. He is a quietly efficient powerhouse, shunning the limelight himself but ensuring that everything works. And I mean everything. There is hardly a single item that escapes his attention and it was his cajoling and encouragement that saw such a good field assembled for the race.

Breeding and racing in Bahrain

ACCORDING to the racing authority’s website, there are currently some 500 horses registered to race in Bahrain, while the breeding numbers are small. Most breeders use their own stallions for their own mares, hence there were 18 registered sires for a broodmare band of about 90 in 2018. Between 70 and 85 foals are born each year.

Some 300 owners are listed, while the racing season runs from the start of November to the end of April. The racecourse at Sakhir has two turf tracks, extending to about a mile and a half, with a sand track for training and a grandstand which has a seating capacity of over 3,000.

Racing takes place once a week and about 300 horses participate during the season. There are an average of seven races per meeting, with an average field of about nine runners. Six races are for thoroughbreds, three for local-breds and three for imported horses. There is one race for Arabians.

Royal Julius is King for a day

BRED by the O’Flynn family at Old Carhue Stud in Coachford, Co Cork, Royal Julius was sold as a foal to Haras du Cadran at Tattersalls in 2013 for 25,000gns and the following August realised €40,000 at Arqana when purchased by Mandore International.

He improved his lifetime earnings to more than £700,000 with his latest success, his sixth in a career spanning 31 starts. A listed winner in France, he was successful at Group 2 level in Italy when he won the Premio Presidente della Rebubblica in Rome, while his many group placings include chasing home Air Pilot in last year’s Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt.

Royal Julius is one of the best runners sired by Royal Applause (Waajib), a sire who stood at the Royal Studs in England. The champion older sprinter in Europe in 1997, Royal Applause won that year’s Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup, two years after an excellent juvenile season that saw him land the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes.

At stud he proved to be a consistent sire of winners, but in a long career that produced 19 crops of racing age he only sired a single top-level winner, the dual Grade 1 heroine Ticket Tape. Royal Julius is one of his nine sons and daughters to win at Group 2 standard, though among that number is the hugely successful sire Acclamation.

Hflah, an unraced daughter of Dubawi (Dubai Millennium), is the dam of the Bahrain winner and she was purchased carrying Royal Julius for 47,000gns at Tattersalls. He is the first of four foals she has of racing age and, including the recent victory of two-year-old Hooroo (Hallowed Crown), he is the best of the four winners. Hooroo sold for 26,000gns as a yearling, but with the sale of the other two offspring as yearlings for €60,000 and £60,000, Hflah has repaid the original investment made in her.

Hflah is a sibling to six winners, notably the joint champion juvenile filly in Europe in 1999, Goldamix (Linamix). She won the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud and the following season was placed in the Group 1 Prix de Diane Hermes-French Oaks.

Connections of the deserving winner

VICTORY for Royal Julius was the best for a horse owned by Jean-Jacques Biarese, while it is another fine scalp for the emerging trainer Jerome Reynier.

The French trainer is a graduate of the Godolphin Flying Start (then Darley) programme, his peers at the time including Gina Bryce and Alex Elliott. Following the course he worked as a bloodstock agent for two years before becoming a private trainer to Ecurie Camacho Courses. In 2013 he opened his stable to the public and that April he saddled his first winner, Its All Class, bred from a mare he purchased for himself for just €1,800. The gelding went on to earn a six-figure sum.

Royal Julius was the breakthrough horse for Reynier and, since he gave the trainer his first blacktype success, the list has been added to by King Bubble, Pappalino, Marianafoot, Master’s Spirit, Spirit Of Nelson and Skalleti. The latter won this year’s Group 2 Prix Dollar and Group 2 Premio Roma.

Riding Royal Julius for the first time was 41-year-old Stéphane Pasquier, one of the leading jockeys in France. Among his big race successes was the 2006 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Rail Link. In 2004 he joined the Daniel Wildenstein stable as second jockey to Olivier Peslier. That year he won the Prix Royal-Oak, his first Group 1 success, with Westerner.

In 2007, Stéphane Pasquier was awarded his first Cravache d’Or, riding 185 winners in the season. Three years later he rode the winner of the Group 1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket when Special Duty, trained by Criquette Head-Maarek, was awarded the race following a stewards’ enquiry.

Other Group/Grade 1 successes include the Breeders’ Cup Mile (Karakontie), Critérium International (Thewayyouare), Critérium de Saint-Cloud (Wonderment), Grand Prix de Paris (Zambezi Sun and Erupt), Prix de la Forêt (Toylsome and Varenar), Prix de Diane (Senga), Poule d’Essai des Poulains (Lucayan and Karakontie), Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (Special Duty), Prix d’Ispahan (Manduro), Prix du Jockey Club (Study Of Man), Prix Jacques Le Marois (Manduro), Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère (Karakontie), Prix Marcel Boussac (Proportional), Prix Maurice de Gheest (Signs Of Blessing), Canadian International Stakes (Erupt), Cheveley Park Stakes (Special Duty), Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (Manduro), Haydock Sprint Cup (African Rose) and Italy’s Gran Criterium on Law Enforcement.