Tag Archive for: El Habeeb

El Habeeb connections have reason for cautious optimism in Gold Cup

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Kevin Philippart De Foy is happy to roll the dice with El Habeeb in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

The four-year-old ran with credit in both the Derby – when only once-raced at the time with Stan Moore – and the St Leger last season, and proved his class when beating subsequent Yorkshire Cup winner Giavellotto in the Listed Noel Murless Stakes.

De Foy has stepped his charge up to two miles this term, a move which saw him finish fifth in the Dubai Gold Cup before placing third in Ascot’s Sagaro Stakes.

The Sagaro winner, Andrew Balding’s Coltrane, is the 3-1 favourite for the Gold Cup, with El Habeeb a best-priced 25-1 shot despite having only five lengths to find.

Philippart De Foy feels his colt merits his place in the field for the two-and-a-half-mile showpiece.

He said: “At the moment that (Gold Cup) is the plan. He ran well in the Sagaro. He’s fairly well one paced and doesn’t have that change of gear he needed at Ascot to go and pick up the second.

Trainer Kevin Philippart De Foy
Trainer Kevin Philippart De Foy (Mike Egerton/PA)

“The winner was quite impressive and he deserves to be the favourite, but I thought we were a little bit unlucky on the inside and I think we deserve to be there.

“He settles very well at any pace and he always stays on in his races. He wouldn’t have the biggest stride, but he keeps galloping all day, so I don’t think the distance will be an issue.

“The form of his last few races stacks up well. He’s got plenty to find to be competitive, but I think he will be competitive for a place.”

Philippart De Foy has plenty to look forward to with El Habeeb

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All avenues are open for El Habeeb after his fifth-placed Dubai Gold Cup run for Kevin Philippart De Foy.

The colt was previously trained by Stan Moore and finished 10th in last season’s Derby before changing stables and eventually contesting another Classic with Philippart De Foy – coming home sixth in the St Leger in September.

Last season ended on a high as he landed the Listed Noel Murless Stakes at Ascot, defying odds of 11-1 to prevail by half a length under Andrea Atzeni. The same jockey took the ride when the horse lined up over two miles at Meydan late last month.

Philippart De Foy was satisfied with the performance and also with how the horse dealt with the experience of travelling and running overseas, something that will open plenty of doors to further valuable contests in warmer climes.

“We were very pleased, he was a length and a half behind a Gold Cup winner (Subjectivist) with Quickthorn a length behind him,” the trainer said.

“We were around very good horses in a deep race on his first start of the year. Also against older horses with more experience over the trip, he didn’t disgrace himself at all. I’m sure he will come on from that run and we will have plenty of fun with him throughout the year.

“I think he will improve with time, his run in the Leger was over a similar trip but that was his first run at the trip. That (Dubai) was then his first start over two miles and his first start of the year and I wasn’t overly hard on him so we have plenty of horse left for the summer.

“He will definitely step up from that, he will get stronger through the year and should have a good campaign.”

The Henry II Stakes, a two-mile Group Three at Sandown, could be next on the agenda as the four-year-old kicks off his domestic campaign. But contests as far afield as Australia will come into focus when the domestic turf season winds down.

Philippart De Foy said: “He’s come out the race in Dubai very well, we were pleased with his run there. He’s just having two easy weeks before building him back up. He will potentially head to Sandown, that will be one option but we will discuss it with the owner and make a final plan.

“The owner wants to keep in mind a potential trip to Australia at the back end of the year, we won’t over-race him but we’ve got a few nice options in England and France. We’ll probably run him four or five times and then see if we could go there to Australia.

“He is a very laid-back horse at home and we thought the travelling would be good for him. When I first saw him in Dubai on the Tuesday morning – he flew on the Saturday – he’d actually put a bit of weight on and looked fantastic.

“He bounced back very quickly, it’s definitely an option to travel throughout the year. We’ll try to avoid the top stayers in the UK and try to find a few easier options.”