A disappointing afternoon at Chelmsford was countered by a thrilling victory for Maqaadeer in the last race at Nottingham on Saturday evening. This horse has long worked like a talented individual and it was a delight for the whole team that we were able to finally find the winning formula.
A son of Mukhadram out of the winning miler Burnt Fingers, Maqaadeer showed plenty early on at two in his homework, but could only finish in the midfield twice in his juvenile outings on track. He returned to action this year with a good second at Lingfield, followed by slightly more underwhelming efforts at Chelmsford and Redcar. A third at Newmarket last month signalled that he was back in peak form, and the step up to a mile and a quarter and a more forceful ride did the trick on Saturday evening.
Kieran Shoemark was in the saddle, and he quickly made up Maqaadeer’s mind.
Turning for home Kieran asked the horse to lengthen and Maqaadeer was able to use his long stride to stretch his field nicely. The James Fanshawe-trained Lady Mascara emerged from the pack as the chief challenger, and for a fleeting moment she looked as though she might sneak through on the rail to collar us late on. This was because Maqaadeer had wandered to his right around a furlong from home, but under a strong drive he was always just doing enough to hold on for a head verdict.
This success came from a rating of 70, and the narrow margin of victory hopefully means that Maqaadeer will not be punished too harshly by the handicapper. Provided he remains on a realistic mark he ought to continue to go the right way, particularly as we now seem to have found the key to him. One particularly pleasing element of the victory was that Maqaadeer is a half-brother to our two-year-old filly Goddess Of Fire, who runs in the silks of our assistant trainer Tory Hayter. Hopefully the future is bright for both horses!
We send our warmest congratulations to winning owner Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum and thank him and the whole Shadwell team for their continued loyal support. As always, we must also pay tribute to all the staff in the yard who continue to work so hard, and are reaping the rewards on track at present.