King Shalaa, who had so impressed on his debut at La Teste, France, did not disappoint in his second start in competition for owner HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani in the Prix Christian Rollet, a Class 2 race for two-year-olds at Lyon-Parilly, France, yesterday. 
Trained by Franccois Rohaut, he was ridden on this occasion by jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot. Sharply away in the mile competition, Boudot then settled him in fourth position behind the leaders, with plenty of cover.  More relaxed this time than on his debut, King Shalaa travelled easily. They began racing out of the turn and Boudot let the bay colt come progressively to join the leaders halfway down the long straight. King Shalaa seemed to have the race won, but a late challenge from Ursuly, followed by Rougir, put him under pressure. 
However, the colt showed that he also has a will to win and held off his rivals without great difficultly in the final 100 meters to win by a head.
 King Shalaa colt finished with plenty in hand and an exciting future now beckons! 
Boudot commented after the race: “He took the lead easily and then held off all challenges. He’s beaten everything that he has been asked to beat and he certainly has improvement. He’s an interesting horse and he has a very good mentality. He was running against horses with much more experience, which isn’t easy even though he did win on debut. It’s promising for his future.”
King Shalaa was bred by trainer François Rohaut. He is by Al Shaqab Racing young sire Shalaa, who stands at Haras du Bouquetot. His dam Baki won two races at Vichy over 2,000m and at Deauville over 2,500m. 
Besides King Shalaa, she is also the dam of Waltham, winner of three races, including the Prix Maurice Caillault.