Wathnan Racing

Trainer Brad Cox sends out the top two chances on the morning line for Friday's GII Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs, and those who support the duo from a pari-mutuel perspective will be looking for some positive cashflow to get a head start on their holiday shopping. Since being acquired privately by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani's Wathnan Racing earlier this season, Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) has yet to taste defeat in three starts, including the GIII West Virginia Governor's Stakes in August, a neck defeat of Cooke...

In the aftermath of the Breeders' Cup, the potential in the older horse division has shifted so that the next big-breakout, classic-distance stars might very well rise in the West. While it's true that divisional kingpins like 'TDN Rising Stars' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), Fierceness (City of Light), and Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), plus GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents), will be plotting 2025 campaigns from training bases farther east, those headline horses will go into their 4-year-old seasons with lofty expectations based on already-established, champion-level accomplishments. But a...

There can have been no ignoring the explosive entrance of the Emir of Qatar's Wathnan Racing to the European racing scene in particular over the last 18 months. The 2023 Royal Ascot winners Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Gregory (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) gave advance warning as to what was to unfold in the ensuing period, with their victories respectively in the G1 Gold Cup and G2 Queen's Vase coming on their first starts in the Wathnan silks after being bought privately from their owner-breeders, Anthony Oppenheimer and...

Offered as Hip 220 by Taylor Made Sales, Shotgun Hottie (Gun Runner) realized $1.5 million from the Emir of Qatar's Wathnan Racing during Keeneland's Book 1 of the November Sale. Winner of the GIII Molly Pitcher Stakes, the millionaire is out of the unraced Re Entry (Malibu Moon). The 5-year-old hails from the family of GISWs Sky Diva and Pure Clan.

It's been tricky to focus on the racing of late with all the theatrics at Tattersalls, so let's call this fourteen days and attempt a catch-up in the brief period between the sales starting up again at Arqana on Tuesday. The extraordinary prices of Books 1 and 2 at the October Yearling Sale tell only half the story, and we all know that in any sales season there are tales of the haves and the have-nots. Perhaps the most interesting element of the top end is what feels like a...

James Fanshawe trainee and G1 King's Stand Stakes fourth Kind Of Blue (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}--Blues Sister {GB}, by Compton Place {GB}) was acquired by Wathnan Racing after a posting a second-place finish in last month's G1 Haydock Sprint Cup and provided an immediate return on investment with a brave success in Ascot's G1 Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes. The 10-1 chance and 'TDN Rising Star' employed patient tactics from flagfall and settled off the tempo through halfway. Cruising into contention at the quarter-mile marker, he was ridden to the...

Wathnan Racing's Subsanador (Arg) (Fortify) will be forced to miss the GI Breeders' Cup Classic after sustaining an ankle injury, according to a report in Daily Racing Form. "We found a problem in his ankle and we'll have to turn him out," trainer Ricahrd Mandella told DRF's Steve Andersen. "It's not a big problem. "We'll have to stop and come back next year." Purchased privately by Wathnan Racing earlier this year, the 5-year-old won the GIII Philip H. Iselin Stakes in August before earning an automatic berth in the Classic...

Hit Show got up late to cap a huge day for Wathnan Racing with a win in the GII Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs Saturday night. The 3-1 shot angled to the rail under the wire the first time and into the first turn while many of his foes opted to angle outside over the sloppy going. Settled in fourth off the pace down the backstretch as Cooke Creek set a moderate pace, the gray began making forward progress approaching the far turn. He rolled up five wide approaching the...

Kind Of Blue (GB), recently beaten a head when second in the G1 Sprint Cup at Haydock, has become the latest in-training signing for Wathnan Racing.  The three-year-old son of Blue Point (Ire), who has until now raced for his breeders Michelle Morris and Jan and Peter Hopper, will remain in the stable of James Fanshawe. Kind Of Blue was unraced at two but has made rapid progression since making a winning debut in April. Fourth in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot after two straight wins, he has...

Wathan Racing's latest star turn, G3 Prix Eclipse hero Electrolyte (Ire) (Hello Youmzain {Fr}), is pointing toward the G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte at Chantilly on Oct. 12, according to racing advisor Richard Brown. One of two group winners for his first-year sire, the son of the winning Bibury (GB) (Royal Applause {GB}) graduated at Ayr in June, before running second, by only a nose, to Rashabar (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) in the G2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot for Archie Watson. Kept busy with a fifth-place appearance in the...

The unbeaten Defence Minister (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) could become a first Group 1 runner in Britain for Qatar's champion trainer Hamad Al-Jehani in this Saturday's Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes. The winner of both of his starts for Wathnan Racing, Defence Minister also holds an entry for the G3 Somerville Tattersall Stakes on Thursday, but has now been supplemented for the Group 1 contest. Wathnan Racing's advisor Richard Brown said, "With all the rain and a very changeable forecast we want to have a range of possible targets for...

The unbeaten Defence Minister (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) has been supplemented by owners Wathnan Racing for Saturday's G2 Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury at a cost of £5,000. Last seen defying a penalty in decisive fashion at Haydock, Defence Minister is one of 19 horses in contention for the prestigious two-year-old contest as he tries to make it three wins from as many starts for his Qatari-born, Newmarket-based trainer Hamad Al-Jehani. G2 Gimcrack Stakes winner Cool Hoof Luke (GB) (Advertise {GB}) and Aidan O'Brien's G3 Round...