Back-To-Back Group 1 Success for Alfareeq
There was a deja vu moment at Meydan yesterday when Alfareeq became the first horse to win two renewals of Gr.1 Jebel Hatta, The son of Dark Angel raced prominently, just behind the eventual runner-up El Drama, who set the pace. Dane O’Neill began to ask his mount for a challenge rounding the final bend, which the grey duly did, just taking the lead holding off the strong-finishing favourite Master Of The Seas. El Drama was a neck behind in second with Master Of The Seas the same distance back in third.
Whilst the evergreen six-year-olds last victory came when scoring in the 2022 renewal of this contest, he has run creditably this season,
finishing second on two starts at Meydan and behind San Donato in the Listed National Day Cup in Abu Dhabi. His seconds in Meydan both came in Gr.2 contests, the first behind Al Suhail in the Al Fahidi Fort and then behind stablemate Valiant Prince in the Singspiel Stakes one month ago. Alfareeq had won a maiden and was Listed-placed in France for previous trainer Freddy Head before moving to the Musabbeh Al
Mheiri stable in Dubai.
Bred by his owner’s Shadwell Estate Company, this is a family Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum nurtured for generations. Alfareeq
is the first winner out of Urjuwaan , a winning Cape Cross halfsister to G3 winner Raseed. They are out of Listed winner Sudoor, from the family of G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes and G1 St James’s Palace Stakes winner and sire Bahri.
