Rising force on UK scene set for as many as 20 runners at annual five-day stand [June 18-22] after recent spending spree – including Irish 2000 Guineas runner-up Haatem
Last year’s Queen Mary Stakes winner Crimson Advocate is to join John & Thady Gosden for a European campaign starting with her return visit to Royal Ascot later this month when the former US-based filly will feature among a formidable team for her owners Wathnan Racing, the rising force on the British racing scene.
The speedy daughter of Nyquist, set to contest the King Charles III Stakes (former King’s Stand) on the Tuesday card, will stay in Britain after leaving US-based George Weaver, for whom she touched off Relief Rally in a royal meeting thriller 12 months ago under John Velazquez.
Wathnan’s US representative Case Clay is excited to be involved with Crimson Advocate’s return “We are looking forward to giving Crimson Advocate another shot at England,” he said.
“She’s all speed and she’ll stay there after Royal Ascot as there are more important races for her there over five furlongs through the summer and fall than there are at home.”
A winner of three of her five career starts for Weaver, Crimson Advocate has run twice since her memorable Royal Ascot victory. She was a close sixth to Big Evs in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on her first start for Wathnan, and then scored at Gulfstream Park on her reappearance late last month.
There was doubt over whether Weaver would be able to saddle her at Royal Ascot anyway as he was temporarily suspended following a metformin positive – but he is now allowed to train again as the American authorities are reviewing their position over that substance, which is used to treat human diabetes.
Keeneland breeze
Clay issued an update on Crimson Advocate’s progress. “I just got back from Keeneland, where she breezed on the turf,” he said.
“It was her final breeze before she ships on June 11, and she’s in great form. She won really well at Gulfstream last month, and that was exactly what George Weaver wanted from her as a tune-up for Ascot.
“It was her first race since the Breeders’ Cup, and Gulfstream was probably her last shot at getting a race in before Ascot after two that George had wanted to run her in were rained off. She needed the run, and we are glad it worked out so well.”
Wathnan are the racing operation of Sheikh Tamim, the Emir of Qatar – and they hit the ground running at Royal Ascot in 2023 when they scored with Courage Mon Ami in the Gold Cup and Gregory in the Queen’s Vase.
Both of them were Gosden-trained stayers who had been purchased privately only shortly before the meeting and were carrying the blue, gold and red silks for the first time. Since then, the silks have become a regular feature in major events at British racecourses – and they could be seen on as many as 20 runners across the five days of Royal Ascot after another significant recent spending spree.
As a further measure of their ambitions the team went on to sign as their retained jockey the long-time former Godolphin rider James Doyle, whose impressive 18 wins at Royal Ascot include nine at the highest level. Doyle is now set to have his strongest-ever book of rides at the meeting.
Wathnan’s racing advisor Richard Brown is under instructions to ensure the team is well represented across the board at Royal Ascot and, although Courage Mon Ami is sidelined after a minor setback, he has made a number high-profile acquisitions in recent weeks.
Chief among them is Richard Hannon-trained Haatem, who won the Craven Stakes and has excelled himself since when placed in both the 2000 Guineas and its Irish equivalent, where he was narrowly beaten by stablemate Rosallion.
“I’m not counting any chickens but we were given the remit to try and form a good team and I think we’ve done that,” said Brown.
“We should have a number of horses with chances, and I’m looking forward to it,” he went on. “Gregory will be one of our main ones. He ran a very nice race on his return at York and he’s second favourite for the Gold Cup. He’s obviously taking on Kyprios, and beating him would be no mean feat, but we are looking forward to trying.
"We’ve bought Shartash, of Archie Watson’s, and he’s going for the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes on the last day. He was a good two-year-old and won the Railway Stakes, and he’s two from two for Archie since we bought him. Both were over seven furlongs, but I think Ascot’s stiff six furlongs will be right up his alley.
“Rogue Lightning will join Crimson Advocate in the King Charles III Stakes, and we were genuinely happy with his recent return in the Temple Stakes, where most of them had had a run and he was just a bit rusty.”
Although plans are yet to be written in stone for Haatem, Brown thinks he knows where he is heading. He said: “If either Notable Speech or Rosallion were to miss the St James’s Palace Stakes we’d probably have another look at the race, but I really like the idea of running him over seven furlongs in the Jersey Stakes.
“He showed a lot of pace at the Curragh and over seven at Ascot you need a horse that stays it well, which he obviously does. He’s a lovely horse and a great addition to the team. Native American is heading for the Jersey too, hopefully, after his excellent second at Epsom.”
Among Wathnan’s other Royal Ascot-bound older runners are the Hamad Al Jehani-trained Beshtani, who was also only narrowly beaten at Epsom and heads for the Royal Hunt Cup with an obvious chance; his stablemate Make Me King, who is more likely to run in the Buckingham Palace Stakes.
Recent purchase Torito, who was unlucky in running in the Hampton Court Stakes last year, is being aimed at the Wolferton while the speedy and unbeaten Dyrholaey, another privatr purchase whose handicap mark has been protected for the Palace of Holyroodhouse Handicap and impressive Saint-Cloud winner Dark Trooper will be fancied for the Wokingham.
All are live chances, but Wathnan’s two-year-old team looks even stronger, having been bolstered recently by the purchase of Richard Fahey’s good York winner Shadow Army.
Brown said: “Shadow Army ran green and did everything wrong when he won at York, but the form looks good and he’ll most likely head for the Norfolk Stakes. It was a similar story with Shareholder, who made a winning debut in the Two-Year-Old Trophy at Beverley on Saturday despite also doing plenty wrong.
“Although it would be a quick turnaround he’d be a Norfolk possible too if he comes out of the race well. In our minds he’d be up there with the best of them.
“Aesterius is a big horse who won impressively over five furlongs at Bath. We are in the extremely fortunate position of having to sit down to chat about plans for them all next week, but he’ll either go Norfolk or Windsor Castle Stakes, while Nottingham winner Leovanni obviously runs in the Queen Mary.”
Among others in the reckoning for Royal Ascot’s juvenile prizes are the similarly promising youngsters Catalyse, Carrados and Electrolyte.
Wathnan has quickly amassed such a sizable string that there will almost certainly be others in the mix, as Brown explained, saying: “I’m going to see all of our trainers on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to get their opinions, and then we’ll sit down with James and the team before we put a proposal to Qatar. We’ll see what they think and then hopefully finalise plans towards the end of the week.
“It's a good team, but we don’t want runners for the sake of having runners. It’s important for us to think that a horse could win.”
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