Saeed bin Suroor© Photo Healy Racing
Some trainers are lucky enough to cast their minds back to the day when they won a highly prestigious race such as the Juddmonte International and remember it with pride.
Saeed bin Suroor, on the other hand, is in the enviable position that he is unable to choose his own favourite winner of the race.
In a way, it is like asking a parent to pick a favourite child, as that is how attached trainers become to their horses – especially the very good ones.
Bin Suroor has won the York highlight four times, most recently with the admirable Sulamani 20 years ago. But it is Halling and Sakhee who he struggles to separate.
While Sakhee’s seven-length victory in 2001 was the more eyecatching display, Halling won it back-to-back in 1995 and 1996, the very early days of the Godolphin operation.
“Both Sakhee and Halling were very good horses,” said Bin Suroor.
“Sakhee, at the time of the year, was in excellent shape. I was very happy with him going into York before the race.
“I knew he was doing really, really good and it would take a special performance from something else to beat him. He won the race well.”
The significance of Halling’s performances throughout 1995 and 1996 has never been lost on the former policeman, though.
He said: “Halling is a very special horse for Godolphin, he did a lot for us in the early days to put us on the map.
“Obviously, it was very early for us then and Halling came to us at a time when we were only interested in the best horses – and he was one of those. He was a very good horse and had no trouble winning it either time.
“Sakhee was second in the Derby for John Dunlop, so we knew he was good, but he won the Juddmonte by seven lengths and then we ran him in the Arc and he won that by six lengths.
“We took him over to America then for the Breeders’ Cup Classic and we thought he had won, but he lost by a nose to Tiznow.
“He was a big, strong horse and he was always one of the best work horses, the good horses tend to be – he always wanted to show how good he was.”
Halling spent his early days in Newmarket with John Gosden, and must have been something of a certainty when he ran in the Cambridgeshire off a mark of 93.
“Halling won the Cambridgeshire for John Gosden, then when he came to us, he won five Group Ones,” said Bin Suroor.
“We tried him on the dirt as well, but he didn’t like it. We tried him in a Breeders’ Cup Classic and a World Cup, but he was not good on dirt.
“He was also a nice stallion, he produced some very good horses like Cavalryman, Norse Dancer and Jack Hobbs.”
Sulamani’s story was slightly different, having won the French Derby for Pascal Bary.
Bin Suroor said: “Sulamani came to me from France, he’d already won the French Derby. He was a great horse to travel with, we took him all over the world.
“He actually beat Norse Dancer at York, but he also won a Canadian International, an Arlington Million and a Sheema Classic.
“He sired some very good jump horses; Honeysuckle and a Grand National winner (Rule The World).
“He was five when he won it, but I am very patient with the horses, look at African Story and Prince Bishop, they won the Dubai World Cup when they were seven and eight (respectively).
“When you have the horse, you have to give them a chance. I know some people want everything now, but the longer you give them, the better they are.”
