A winner of Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2020, The Lir Jet carried the colours of his owners Qatar Racing Limited and RacehorseClub.com to success in the Group 2 Franklin Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs in the United States on Sunday.
Formerly trained in the UK by Michael Bell, the three-year-old was having his first start for trainer Brendan Walsh. A winner of the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2020 and runner-up in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes at The Curragh, The Lir Jet got his stateside career off to the perfect start under a cool ride from Tyler Gaffalionne.
The Lir Jet was settled behind the leaders through the early stages of the 1,300m contest. The Wesley Ward-trained Into The Sunrise set a sharp early pace. The blinkered The Lir Jet travelled well against the rails and on turning for home took advantage of a gap on Into The Sunrise’s inside. The Lir Jet challenged for the lead 300m out and began to draw clear of his rivals inside the final 150m. He went on to win by a cosy two lengths at the line from the fast-finishing pair of Easy Time who finished second and Fauci who finished third. Early pacesetter Into The Sunrise looked booked for second, but faded badly inside the final 50m and lost two positions in the final strides.

Al Shaqab’s HM Al Sakeb wins Prix Kann at Dax
Dax, France: Owned by Al Shaqab Racing, HM Al Sakeb took the Prix Kann at Dax in France on Sunday. Trained by Thomas Fourcy, the four-year-old purebred Arabian got back to winning ways on his first start since finishing sixth in the Qatar Derby Des Pure-Sang Arabes De 4ans at Chantilly in June. He was ridden by Julien Auge and now has two wins from five career starts.
Pushed out by Auge, HM Al Sakeb went on to win comfortably by four lengths from the Charles Gourdain-trained and Maxime Foulon-ridden Rysk Tout. His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani’s Sarhan showed some promise. However, Matthias Lauron-ridden colt finished further five lengths back in third.
Bred by H. Mousli & N. Moussalli, HM Al Sakeb is by Haras De Thouras’ stallion Azadi. His dam, Morgane De Piboul was a winner over 1,200m and has produced six individual winners including Al Mouwaffak.