06.04.2022

It’s plain sailing for Moshrif

The H.H. The Amir Silver Sword is devoid of black-type status. However, given the size of the purse ($250,000) and the quality of the field, a race which is restricted to 4-year-olds and run over 1,850m, was deserving of the ‘PA Group' label. As the first three home in the 2022 renewal are all Gr1 PA class. Djalco (Josco du Cayrou) made the running with Sahab (AF Albahar) shadowing him in second. Meanwhile, Moshrif (Dahess) and Monda (No Risk at All) were both close up with the pair matching strides in third. Maxime Guyon was the first to kick-on and he tried to stretch the field aboard Sahab on hitting the straight. However, the Jim Crowley-ridden Moshrif was alive to the danger with the combination keeping tabs on the latter. The Khalifa bin Sheail Al Kuwari representative subsequently made his class tell by scoring a length and a half win. The courageous Sahab was second, having filled an identical position in the Qatar Arabian Trophy des Pouliches (Gr1 PA) in October. Monda, clearly ill at ease on a fast Doha surface, was eight lengths further away in third. She probably didn't give her true running. As on soft ground, she had finished third (a head adrift of Sahab) in the Qatar Arabian Trophy des Pouliches, The wins of Samlla (Assy) and Moshrif completed a bonanza weekend for François Rohaut and he told us: "This isn't his type of track. He will be better suited to more galloping courses. He was up against smart opposition. The filly offered tough resistance. It panned out perfectly for him in the straight, and it took a very good horse to reel the filly in. He's getting better and better. The horse will be even better over trips in the 2,000m to 2,400m range. He will earmarked for the 'big race' one day or the other."

The brother of Muraaqib. Purchased for €185,000 at the last Arqana PA sale by Gérard Larrieu, Moshrif was bred by Shadwell. He is a son of Dahess (Amer), a stallion based at the Haras du Thouars, where he stands on behalf of Al Shaqab Racing. The dam, Tashreefat (Bengali d'Albret), a winner over 1,000m, was also second in the Liwa Oasis (Gr1 PA, 1,400m). She was sold for €310,000 to His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Auctav sale in December. Moshrif is the brother of four black type performers, including the outstanding and sextuple Gr1 PA winning Muraaqib (Munjiz), and Barnamaj (No Risk Al Maury). The latter, the winner of the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 (Gr1 PA). Barnamaj has taken up stallion duties in Morocco where he operates under the SOREC banner. Muraaqib's stallion career got underway this year at Thouars.