Todd Fletcher-trained Mshawish, sporting the colours of Al Shaqab Racing in one of the 27 entries for Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes to be held on Saturday, May 16 at the Newbury racecourse.
Agencies/London
The Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes has attracted 27 entries for the Group I contest to be held on Saturday, May 16 at the Newbury racecourse.
The David O’Meara-trained Custom Cut is one of the contenders going forward for the mile contest after making a winning return to action in the Group II bet365 Mile at Sandown Park on April 24.
The six year old colt had won five consecutive races last season, including the mile Group II Joel Stakes at Newmarket, before ending the campaign with an eighth place finish in the Group I Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on British Champions Day.
Richard Hannon who had tasted success with Al Shaqab Racing’s Olympic Glory in the Lockinge Stakes in 2014 has a couple of notable acceptors in QIPCO 2000 Guineas hero Night Of Thunder and Toormore, who was the European Champion two-year-old of 2013.
Other notable acceptors include Sir Michael Stoute trained Integral and Clive Brittain saddled Rizeena. Integral is a dual Group I winner, while Rizeena has reigned supreme in two Group I races.
Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Karakontie heads the list of four French raiders, who are likely to be in the fray. Karakontie trainer Jonathan Pease has also left in Maximum Velocity. Nicholas Clement schooled Prestige Vendome and Carlos Laffon-Parias saddled Bawina complete the French brigade.
Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien has a couple of entries in Cougar Mountain and Oklahoma City, while Al Shaqab Racing bid for an encore with Todd Fletcher-trained Mshawish, which won the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap in February.
Al Shaqab Racing have inked a five year sponsorship deal which has elevated the race and the whole of Al Shaqab Lockinge Day to new heights. The Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes has been increased in value from £214,000 in 2014 to £350,000 this year.
There will be seven races on the card including the Al Shaqab Fillies Trial Stakes and the Al Shaqab Carnarvon Stakes, both previously run on the day before the Lockinge Stakes, plus the Al Shaqab London Gold Cup, all three of which will be worth £70,000.
In addition, the prize fund for the Listed Al Shaqab Stakes, previously known as the Aston Park Stakes, will increase to £100,000. Two new races will also be added to the card - the Al Shaqab Conditions Stakes for two year olds run over six furlongs with a purse of £50,000 and the Al Shaqab Handicap, over a mile, worth £40,000.
Al Shaqab Racing started in 2011 with Arabian racing and achieved multiple Group 1 wins in the Kahayla Classic two years in a row with TM Fred Texas and Al Mamun Monlau. Al Shaqab Racing has now evolved into one of the superpowers of Thoroughbred racing, winning major Group 1 titles such as The Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot, the Lockinge Stakes and the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp twice with superstar filly, Treve.