Tag Archive for: Haunted Dream

Hamad Al Jehani celebrates landmark Wathnan winner

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Hamad Al Jehani celebrated his first ever British turf victory after Haunted Dream claimed the Regent Seven Seas Cruises Bentinck Conditions Stakes at Goodwood.

Qatari trainer Al Jehani, who is based in Newmarket, made the move to the United Kingdom in April to join Wathnan Racing’s ever-expanding team.

He had a near miss on Thursday as The Strikin Viking was a half-length runner-up to Black Forza in the Group Two Markel Richmond Stakes, but he finally made his mark thanks to the grey’s triumph at 4-1.

Jockey James Doyle bided his time aboard Haunted Dream in a prominent position behind pacesetter Prague in the one-mile-and-one-furlong contest.

Once Prague began to fade in the closing stages, the son of Oasis Dream kicked clear of the challenging Cairo to prevail by half a length with 6-4 favourite My Prospero finishing strongly in third.

“Haunted Dream always does a very good job. He is an honest horse and we were really confident that he would do his job,” a relieved Al Jehani said.

“I think the race was perfect for him, that pace was great for him, James dealt with him very well and we were very happy – we deserved that for all the team, to be honest, after that disappointing day yesterday.

“Today we deserved to have one of our runners win, so hopefully we might have more.”

Doyle was delighted to help deliver Al Jehani’s landmark win, feeling he had been at fault in the saddle for The Strikin Viking’s second-placed finish.

Haunted Dream, second left, won the Regent Seven Seas Cruises Bentinck Conditions Stakes
Haunted Dream, second left, delivered a half-a-length success at Goodwood (Andrew Matthews/PA)

“He’s a tough horse, isn’t he? He’s had a whole season here last season, then he had a season in Qatar and now he’s come back, so he’s been a busy boy, but he seems to have thrived on it,” Wathnan’s lead jockey said.

“Full credit to Hamad Al Jehani and his team. They felt like we should go again and they were 100 per cent right.

“It’s a key moment for Hamad in his career. His horses have been turned out impeccably, and they’ve run with great credit throughout all the big festival meetings.

“These are sort of tried-and-tested horses and it hasn’t been easy, but they’ve all run good races at Ascot, the Derby meeting… To come here and get a winner has been very important, especially after what happened yesterday with The Strikin Viking.

“We should have been stood over here (winner’s spot) and not in the second spot, and that was purely my fault – unfortunately I pressed the button sooner than I probably should have done, and I really felt for Hamad, because we all felt that would be his first winner.

“It was important today. I know it doesn’t smooth what happened yesterday, but it was important we got one on the board.”

Wathnan were soon celebrating once again when Artagnan landed the Hawes & Curtis Nursery Handicap by one and a half lengths to shed his maiden tag.

Karl Burke’s runner went off at 16-1 under David Egan and made his move inside the final two furlongs to sit alongside leader Ardennes.

They were neck and neck in the closing stages but once the son of Mehmas got his nose in front with half a furlong to go, there was no stopping the charging colt to secure another two-year-old success for the Spigot Lodge handler this season.

“He’s done that very well. I said to Richard Brown from Wathnan that I was a little bit nervous that he’d had a longish break from Ascot to here, but he got it right,” Burke said. “The way he’s been working at home, I thought he was well-handicapped.

“This has been the plan since Ascot. It’s an important meeting for Wathnan, so this was the target. We’ll see what the handicapper does as to where we go next.”

Egan added: “It was very nice to get the last-minute call-up to ride, and Mr Burke was very confident about the horse. He came here in tremendous form carrying a low weight, and won very nicely.”

It was close to a treble on the day for Wathnan in the concluding Coral Play Racing-Super-Series For Free Handicap, with Doyle and the William Haggas-trained Wafei having to settle for second to the Oisin Murphy-ridden Assailant (John and Thady Gosden) in the colours of Bjorn Nielsen, who enjoyed so many great days at this meeting with Stradivarius.



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Astro King up for the Cup again and out to extend good York record

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Astro King will strive to go one better than last year when he lines up for the John Smith’s Cup at York on Saturday.

The gelding, trained by Daniel and Claire Kubler, missed out by just a nose last season when Amy Murphy’s Pride Of America was declared the winner following a photo finish.

After that performance, the runner-up ended his season strongly, winning the Finale Handicap on his return to York next time out and then going on to land the Cambridgeshire before two creditable runs in the Middle East.

This year, the bay started his season on a good note, finishing second when a length behind Ottoman Fleet in the Group Three Earl of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket.

After that, he was fourth at Group Two level in the Jockey Club Stakes at the same track, following which he headed to the Royal meeting for a luckless beaten run in the Wolferton Stakes.

Sky Bet Ebor Festival 2023 – Day Four – York Racecourse
Astro King winning the Sky Bet Finale Handicap at York last year (Mike Egerton/PA)

He now returns to handicap level on the Knavesmire, where he looks to get the verdict this time under a top-weight allocation when partnered by Richard Kingscote.

“He went very close in the race last year and he ticks a lot of boxes, so fingers crossed he can run a similar race this time,” said Daniel Kubler.

“He’s come out of Ascot well, that’s why we’re going to York with him, and he’s a course and distance winner.

“He was only beaten a nose in a very close photo finish in this race last year, I just hope it dries out, as he wouldn’t want it too soft.”

Haunted Dream was the third-placed horse behind Pride Of America and Astro King in the race last season and will take part again for new connections, having been purchased by Wathnan Racing and sent to Hamad Al-Jehani.

Royal Ascot 2024 – Day One – Ascot Racecourse
Haunted Dream (grey) finishing second in the Wolferton Stakes at Royal Ascot (John Walton/PA)

The handler has relocated from Qatar to train in Britain and having recently got off the mark with his first winner on these shores, he is now looking for a first York victory with a horse in good form.

Haunted Dream was second at Royal Ascot in the Wolferton, finishing behind Israr in a smart run that now leads to a planned journey to Yorkshire.

“It was a good performance at Royal Ascot. We finished second, we didn’t win, but we had a nice performance from him,” said Al-Jehani.

“He was beaten by a nice horse. I was very pleased with him. He finished second in a Listed race and printed his name as a black-type horse, so we were very happy.

“It was the plan before that to go to the John Smith’s. He finished third (at York) last year with his previous trainer. If he can show a similar performance, hopefully we will have a nice chance there.

“We are really excited to go to York with a nice horse for the first time. It’s really important for us. Hopefully we will have a nice experience.”

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid has two strong chances in Liberty Lane and Botanical, trained by Karl Burke and Roger Varian respectively – the latter of whom has another runner in the Shadwell-owned Enfjaar.

Sandown Park Races – Thursday 23rd March
Dual Identity winning the Whitsun Cup at Sandown (John Walton/PA)

William Knight’s Dual Identity has been faring well this year, winning the Whitsun Cup at Sandown before returning to the track to come third in another valuable contest over course and distance and then sixth when beaten two and a half lengths in the Coral Challenge.

He now steps up in trip having run those races over a mile, and Knight is hoping the extended distance will play to his strengths, as his handicap allocation is eased by 5lb-claimer Brandon Wilkie.

“He’s come out of that Sandown race well, though you always worry when you back them up quickly after a relatively hard race,” the trainer said.

“Our angle is that stepping up to a mile and a quarter and taking a valuable five (pounds) off his back should put him in with a big chance of running well on Saturday.

“I think he needs to be stepped up now to a mile and a quarter. It should be nice ground on Saturday and if there’s a little bit of juice in it, that will help as well.”



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Haunted Dream targets John Smith’s Cup glory

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Haunted Dream will attempt to go one better than his fine Royal Ascot second when he drops back to handicap company for York’s John Smith’s Cup on Saturday, for which 44 are still in contention.

The five-year-old is trained by Hamad Al-Jehani, one of the leading trainers in Qatar and who has set up camp in Newmarket for the summer to oversee a small string for owners Wathnan Racing.

A somewhat unlucky fourth at Epsom prior to running in the Wolferton Stakes at Ascot, Haunted Dream was one of three runners for Al-Jehani at the Royal meeting and fared best of those behind clear winner Israr in his 10-furlong Listed assignment.

Al-Jehani has since got off the mark in the UK when Make Me King triumphed at Newcastle on Northumberland Plate day and the 35-year-old is now keen to add this weekend’s £200,000 handicap on the Knavesmire to his CV.

“The plan for Haunted Dream is to go to the John Smith’s Cup,” said Wathnan’s racing adviser Richard Brown.

“He’s been an absolute star and Hamad and his team have done a tremendous job with him.

“He’s a lovely horse and we look forward to seeing him run up at York.”

James Tate is looking forward to running Flying Frontier in what is traditionally one of the hottest handicaps of the season.

He was beaten less than four lengths in a valuable handicap at Sandown which has worked out well on his first start for almost 270 days last month and his trainer is anticipating improvement.

“Flying Frontier has been confirmed this morning and it is very much the plan to run,” said Tate.

“This has been on his agenda for some time and I was very pleased with his comeback run at Sandown given he hadn’t run for a long time and a mile is too sharp for him.”

Astro King, beaten a nose last year by Pride Of America, could be back again 12 months on but is this year set to carry top-weight.

Roger Varian’s Botanical and the Karl Burke-trained pair of Bolster and Liberty Lane give owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid a strong hand.



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