James Doyle© Photo Healy Racing
Hamad Al Jehani celebrated his first ever British turf victory after Haunted Dream claimed the Regent Seven Seas Cruises Bentinck Conditions Stakes at Goodwood.
Qatari trainer Al Jehani, who is based in Newmarket, made the move to the United Kingdom in April to join Wathnan Racing’s ever-expanding team.
He had a near miss on Thursday as The Strikin Viking was a half-length runner-up to Black Forza in the Group Two Markel Richmond Stakes, but he finally made his mark thanks to the grey’s triumph at 4-1.
Jockey James Doyle bided his time aboard Haunted Dream in a prominent position behind pacesetter Prague in the one-mile-and-one-furlong contest.
Once Prague began to fade in the closing stages, the son of Oasis Dream kicked clear of the challenging Cairo to prevail by half a length with 6-4 favourite My Prospero finishing strongly in third.
“Haunted Dream always does a very good job. He is an honest horse and we were really confident that he would do his job,” a relieved Al Jehani said.
“I think the race was perfect for him, that pace was great for him, James dealt with him very well and we were very happy – we deserved that for all the team, to be honest, after that disappointing day yesterday.
“Today we deserved to have one of our runners win, so hopefully we might have more.”
Doyle was delighted to help deliver Al Jehani’s landmark win, feeling he had been at fault in the saddle for The Strikin Viking’s second-placed finish.
“He’s a tough horse, isn’t he? He’s had a whole season here last season, then he had a season in Qatar and now he’s come back, so he’s been a busy boy, but he seems to have thrived on it,” Wathnan’s lead jockey said.
“Full credit to Hamad Al Jehani and his team. They felt like we should go again and they were 100 per cent right.
“It’s a key moment for Hamad in his career. His horses have been turned out impeccably, and they’ve run with great credit throughout all the big festival meetings.
“These are sort of tried-and-tested horses and it hasn’t been easy, but they’ve all run good races at Ascot, the Derby meeting… To come here and get a winner has been very important, especially after what happened yesterday with The Strikin Viking.
“We should have been stood over here (winner’s spot) and not in the second spot, and that was purely my fault – unfortunately I pressed the button sooner than I probably should have done, and I really felt for Hamad, because we all felt that would be his first winner.
“It was important today. I know it doesn’t smooth what happened yesterday, but it was important we got one on the board.”
Wathnan were soon celebrating once again when Artagnan landed the Hawes & Curtis Nursery Handicap by one and a half lengths to shed his maiden tag.
Karl Burke’s runner went off at 16-1 under David Egan and made his move inside the final two furlongs to sit alongside leader Ardennes.
They were neck and neck in the closing stages but once the son of Mehmas got his nose in front with half a furlong to go, there was no stopping the charging colt to secure another two-year-old success for the Spigot Lodge handler this season.
“He’s done that very well. I said to Richard Brown from Wathnan that I was a little bit nervous that he’d had a longish break from Ascot to here, but he got it right,” Burke said. “The way he’s been working at home, I thought he was well-handicapped.
“This has been the plan since Ascot. It’s an important meeting for Wathnan, so this was the target. We’ll see what the handicapper does as to where we go next.”
Egan added: “It was very nice to get the last-minute call-up to ride, and Mr Burke was very confident about the horse. He came here in tremendous form carrying a low weight, and won very nicely.”
It was close to a treble on the day for Wathnan in the concluding Coral Play Racing-Super-Series For Free Handicap, with Doyle and the William Haggas-trained Wafei having to settle for second to the Oisin Murphy-ridden Assailant (John and Thady Gosden) in the colours of Bjorn Nielsen, who enjoyed so many great days at this meeting with Stradivarius.
