Frankie Dettori rode Shalaa to victory in the Qatar Richmond Stakes at Qatar Goodwood Festival yesterday.
Right: Nasser al-Jaidah presents the Qatar Richmond Stakes trophy to Al Shaqab Racing general manager Khalifa bin Mohamed al-Attiyah. PICTURE: Juhaim
By Chris Hoover/Chichester, England
Al Shaqab Racing’s Shalaa stamped his class with an impressive victory in the Group II Qatar Richmond Stakes on the third of the Qatar Goodwood Festival at the Goodwood Racecourse yesterday.
Ridden by Frankie Dettori in the famous silks of HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, Shalaa defied a stiff penalty for winning at Newmarket’s July meeting, and scored in fine fashion, winning by two and three-quarters of a length from Tasleet and Steady Pace.
Dettori said: “We think the world of him and he proved it today with a penalty. He has lots of speed, a good head on him and he can quicken off it - what more do you want? I am happy to take a lead but there isn’t a two-year-old fast enough to lead him so I have to make my own way home.
“He is getting a lot better. I have been riding him at home a lot and he is in a good place now - he was a bit hot and a bit temperamental but he enjoys it now and it makes one hell of a difference. I would say something like the Morny on good ground would be the target.”
Shalaa, whose victory added to that of Al Shaqab’s Galileo Gold in Tuesday’s Group Two Qatar Vintage Stakes, was widely quoted for next year’s QIPCO 2,000 Guineas, but trainer John Gosden views him as a sprinter, not a miler. Gosden said: “He is very quick - at home he is very relaxed and will sit behind another horse and go to sleep, but when the races are on and the gate opens he says ‘I’m off’. He has so much speed he has burned them all off before Frankie has to move. He’s a very fast two-year-old.
“It’s a great sight to see him cruising while other jockeys in behind are working away, but he’s learned to relax, and when he won his maiden he didn’t relax. Thank goodness we resisted the temptation to go to Royal Ascot for the Coventry Stakes because he wasn’t ready for that mentally, and yet he is now.
“He reminds me of Oasis Dream - he’s that type of horse. We could go for the Prix Morny, unless Harry [Herbert, racing manager to Al Shaqab] wants to make a speech in which case we would go for the Gimcrack Stakes. If we go for the Morny we would want nice, fast ground and not the Deauville of last year which was beyond bottomless. The Morny and Middle Park would be obvious targets, but we won’t take him up to seven furlongs, because he’s fast.
“We’ll worry about next year when it comes, but I don’t see him as a miler. I see him staying at six furlongs and that great new race, the Commonwealth Cup [at Royal Ascot] being a big target for him next year. He enjoys sprinting, so let him sprint.”
