By Sean Cronin
Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's G1 St Leger runner-up Rahiebb (Frankel) justified his entry in, and booked his ticket to, next month's G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot with a belated first black-type victory in Friday's 14-furlong G2 Boodles Yorkshire Cup on the Knavesmire.
“That was lovely to watch, it was very smooth and he's a lovely horse,” said Roger Varian. “He had a long year and was learning on the job all season really. He made his debut at Newcastle in February and finished up in the St Leger. He was such a baby last year and was doing a lot of things wrong, but still running well. He's really matured over the winter and you don't have to know anything about horses to know he's a magnificent specimen. Hopefully his best days are still in front of him.”
Looking ahead, the trainer added, “We think he's a Cup horse for the Cup races, not just [Royal] Ascot, but of course we have to think of him as a [G1] Gold Cup candidate. It's a tough division. but a fun one to be involved in. I love stayers and he's a classy horse, but we don't know about two-and-a-half miles.”
The 4-1 chance was positioned in third as G1 Irish St Leger second Amiloc (Postponed) bowled along on the front end, but slipped to fourth approaching halfway.
Coming under pressure with three furlongs remaining, he swooped for control soon after passing the quarter-mile marker and, despite edging left in the latter stages, was driven out to secure a decisive 2 1/4-length triumph from Al Nayyir (Dubawi).
Meydan regular Epic Poet (Lope De Vega) was a neck back in third, while the pacesetting Amiloc faded quicky once headed and finished a disappointing sixth of seven.
Pedigree Notes
Rahiebb is the third of five foals and one of three scorers for Listed Lyric Stakes third Playful Sound (Street Cry), herself a half-sister to dual Group 3 winner Ispolini (Dubawi) and G2 Park Hill Stakes and G3 Pinnacle Stakes placegetter Vivionn (Dubawi).
Vivionn is the dam of the dual stakes-placed Anna Swan (Almanzor), while the winner's Grade II-winning second dam Giants Play (Giant's Causeway) is a granddaughter of G3 Musidora Stakes-winning blue hen Magnificient Style (Silver Hawk).
Rahiebb is half to a yearling filly by New Bay.
Friday, York, Britain
BOODLES YORKSHIRE CUP STAKES-G2, £180,000, York, 5-15, 4yo/up, 13f 188yT, 3:00.70, gd.
1–RAHIEBB (GB), 129, c, 4, by Frankel (GB)
1st Dam: Playful Sound (GB) (SP-Eng), by Street Cry (Ire)
2nd Dam: Giants Play, by Giant's Causeway
3rd Dam: Playful Act (Ire), by Sadler's Wells
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. (240,000gns RNA Ylg
'23 TATOCT). O-Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum; B-Newsells Park
Stud; T-Roger Varian; J-Ray Dawson. £102,078. Lifetime
Record: G1SP-Eng, 8-2-4-1, $424,711. Werk Nick Rating: A+++.
*Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree,
or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Al Nayyir (GB), 129, g, 8, Dubawi (Ire)–Bright Beacon (GB), by
Manduro (Ger). O-Elbashir Elhrari; B-Godolphin; T-Tom Clover.
£38,700.
3–Epic Poet (Ire), 129, g, 7, Lope De Vega (Ire)–Sagaciously
(Ire), by Lawman (Fr). (180,000gns Wlg '19 TATFOA;
450,000gns Ylg '20 TATOCT; 48,000gns 4yo '23 TATAHI).
O-Akela Thoroughbreds Ltd; B-George Kent; T-David O'Meara.
£19,368.
Margins: 2 1/4, NK, 5. Odds: 4.00, 11.00, 11.00.
Also Ran: Furthur (Ire), Tarriance (GB), Amiloc (GB), Deira Mile (Ire).
St Leger runner-up Rahiebb strikes on his return in the £180,000 Group 2 @Boodles Yorkshire Cup! @varianstable @yorkracecourse pic.twitter.com/0WyYADLSK5
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 15, 2026
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