Shadwell’s exciting three-year-old has shown signs he could be the latest star from a storied family, but the Irish Derby will reveal more.
It’s never easy following in the footsteps of an accomplished sibling. It’s even harder following two of them, but that’s what Raaheeb must do with the spotlight on him every time he runs. So far, he’s not letting the family down.
When he steps out unbeaten in Sunday’s G1 Irish Derby at the Curragh against the race-hardened Benvenuto Cellini and the Derby winner Christmas Day, the blue-blooded Shadwell homebred will be forging his own identity within a storied legacy.
“No question: he’s the best three-year-old we’ve got … he’s an exciting horse,” Shadwell’s racing manager Angus Gold said recently.
A big chunk of that excitement is as much – if not more – about who and what Raaheeb is as it is about what ability he has shown.
Raaheeb has a lot to live up to as a full-brother to the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Hukum. But that’s not even the half of it, not when his other big brother is the brilliant Baaeed, one of this century’s real deal champions, winner of the Prix du Moulin, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Lockinge Stakes, Queen Anne Stakes, Sussex Stakes and Juddmonte International, beaten only once in 11 races.
His family is core Shadwell: Raaheeb’s mother’s mother, Lahudood, won at the Breeders’ Cup; this is the family of superstars of yesteryear – Nashwan, Unfuwain and Nayef; all are descendants of the great mare Height Of Fashion who raced for the late Queen Elizabeth II before the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum bought her for his broodmare band.
Raaheeb has done alright up to now. He’s two from two: a maiden win at Ascot last September and an impressive first-up win this year in the G3 Classic Trial at Sandown. After his Ascot debut, Shadwell’s number one jockey Jim Crowley summed things up.
“It’s nice that he seems to have got some of his brother’s blood,” he said. “You always get compared: Baaeed was a freak, he was very quick, he could have won over six furlongs, he was an exceptional horse and his brother Hukum was just tough … they do tend to improve and they all got a bit quicker as well.”
Crowley observed that the Owen Burrows-trained colt was “sleepy” that day, joking that the youngster had tripped up twice on the way out to the track because he was half asleep. “He doesn’t know what he’s here for,” he said.
He was a work in progress and that was apparent again at Sandown when Rossa Ryan took the reins – Crowley was and still is recovering from a crashing race fall just two days after Raaheeb’s September debut win.
“Physically he’s all there, mentally he’s just figuring it out, so that’s why they’re not in a big rush,” Ryan said at a time when the Derby at Epsom was on the cards.
But a setback meant the Derby and Royal Ascot were off the agenda. And if the ground doesn’t come up like a road, the Curragh should be the test that tells us how close to Baaeed’s impressive heights his little brother might yet fly.
“He won well at Sandown and just came out of it a bit shook up, but took a few days to come right, so we couldn’t do anything with him for about two weeks after that, hence why we couldn’t prepare him for Epsom,” Gold said in a TV interview.
“He’s been back, he’s done three or four good bits of work recently so it’ll be very interesting to see where he fits in.”
Christmas Day’s Epsom win on soft going, with the field pretty well strung out, suggests there’s still some sifting to be done among this year’s mile and a half three-year-olds and there’s room for a star to emerge.
Burrows believes his charge is ready and will enjoy the Curragh’s wide, galloping tract of turf as long as the ground doesn’t dry too much.
“I think it will suit Raaheeb, it’s a stayer’s track, so I’m looking forward to it,” he said recently. “We’ve had a good preparation with him and we’d like to see nice, good ground.”
Raaheeb has a long way to go to match his brothers, but at this early stage he is at least stepping in the right direction.
“We’re still learning about the horse,” Gold said. “He’s only run twice but he looks like he’ll be up to the caliber. We’ll find out at the weekend.”
This Week In Horse Racing History
It was on June 22, 1935 at Narragansett Park that the legendary Seabiscuit won his first race. He had raced 17 times already in a juvenile career that would see him race 35 times for five wins. Three years later he would be the U.S. horse of the year.
Morny Wing won the Irish Derby at the Curragh on June 26, 1946 aboard Bright News. It was a record sixth win in the race for the jockey and no rider since has matched him.
The great Lester Piggott won the race five times and the last of those was on June 27, 1981 when he was left looking around for rivals in the final couple of furlongs as Shergar coasted to victory well clear of his rivals.
SHERGAR, THE AGA KHAN IV / G1 Irish Derby // The Curragh /// 1980 //// Photo by Steve Powell
Reads Of The Week
Katsuhiko Sumii was at the top of his game, one of Japan’s best trainers, winner of a Melbourne Cup, Dubai World Cup and Japanese classics, but he walked away, back to his remote home town and a spiritual calling. Then came devastation. Michael Cox traveled to Suzu and produced this compelling piece
The media babble out of Royal Ascot was all about “positive noises” around Ka Ying Rising heading there for next year’s event, but David Morgan spoke to trainer David Hayes and jockey Zac Purton to find out what those noises from the great sprinter’s camp might be and discovered a somewhat different story to the pushed narrative
Adam Pengilly’s latest feature article for Idol Horse hones in on Jason Collett, a jockey rooted in the sport and about to expand his experience in Japan. Once burdened with the tag of best jockey without a Group 1 win, he is now respected as an elite rider on the Sydney circuit
Global Blackbook
Aviatore’s all-the-way win in a newcomer race at Tokyo last Sunday suggested the Shadai-owned two-year-old is destined for higher things, so it was interesting to note his jockey Francisco Leandro Fernandes Goncalves pinpointed his mount as one to watch and a highlight of his two-month stint in Japan, which concluded at the weekend.
The dark bay youngster dictated the race under Goncalves and was traveling easily entering the home straight, a couple of lengths to the good. Aviatore lengthened willingly when shaken up and ran on truly for a length and a quarter win.
That was a good debut and the son of Siskin, although showing professionalism, will surely improve with maturity. His sire Siskin was of course precocious, being an unbeaten champion juvenile in Ireland, but the stallion was also elite level at three, winning the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas at a mile.
His dam, Gelateria Bar, was a modest 2200m maiden winner in Japan who ended up dropping down to 1200m. She is a daughter of the German 1,000 Guineas heroine Shapira who was second to the champion French filly Divine Proportions in the G1 Prix d’Astarte at a mile. Whether Aviatore takes some stamina from his damsire, Manhattan Cafe, or mile speed from his sire’s side and his granddam, remains to be seen.
His trainer Toshiaki Tajima has never had a top-class horse before, his best being the G2 winner Hohelied, so the 52-year-old will be pinning his hopes to this interesting youngster.
What’s Coming Up?
Carreras de las Estrellas Day
San Isidro, Argentina, June 28
Argentina’s version of the Breeders’ Cup spans two days and the second of those days features the Breeders’ Cup Classic equivalent, the G1 Gran Premio Estrella Classic, which looks set to feature last year’s winner Need You Tonight and the 2024 hero Vundu. The event alternates year to year between the dirt track at Palermo and the turf track at San Isidro.
Irish Derby Day
Curragh, Ireland, June 28
It looks like being fast ground at the Curragh this weekend, which conditions would be very different to the soft going Christmas Day galloped over to win the Derby at Epsom earlier this month. He looks set to attempt the Derby double first achieved by Orby in 1907 and extend his trainer Aidan O’Brien’s incredible record in the race to 18 wins. But he will face his stablemate Benvenuto Cellini, favorite at Epsom when well down the field but ruled a non-runner anyway, and the likely favorite again on Sunday. But attempting to thwart the Ballydoyle runners is the Owen Burrows-trained Raaheeb, an exciting, twice-raced, unbeaten full-brother to the exceptional champion Baaeed and fellow Group 1 winner Hukum.
Durban July Day
Greyville, South Africa, July 4
A full field of 18 is set for the Durban July, which will feature Australian-based jockeys Zac Lloyd and Chad Schofield. Lloyd will ride Regulation after his planned mount Happy Verse was ruled out injured. Meanwhile, veteran champion Andrew Fortune had a fairytale win in the G1 Cape Town Met earlier this year and will ride the star filly Wish List as he attempts to win the July for the first time, too. Wish List’s trainer Justin Snaith also has top-weight Legal Counsel. Much-traveled French rider Mickaelle Michel rides the three-year-old colt Star Major on whom she notched her first Group 1 win in the Daily News 2000.
Eclipse Stakes Day
Sandown, England, July 4
Ombudsman was a brilliant winner of the G1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes for a second time at Royal Ascot last week and he could attempt to avenge his second place in last year’s Eclipse after rising to a world-leading mark of 132. But he and Coolmore’s Prix du Jockey Club winner Constitution River are not guaranteed to line up. One emerging talent that seems likely to be in the Eclipse field is the Owen Burrows-trained Gethin, second to Ombudsman at Sandown.
Deutsches Derby Day
Hamburg, Germany, July 5
The Marcel Weiss-trained Englishman emerged as a leading Derby contender with his win in the recognized trial, the G2 Sparkasse Kolnbonn 191st Union-Rennen at Cologne on June 14. The Andreas Suborics-trained Seguro staked a strong claim too when he won the G3 JRA Derby Trial at Baden-Baden on June 6.
This article first appeared in Idol Horse as "World Racing Weekly: Raaheeb, Irish Derby & Aviatore".
