Al Shaqab Racing’s Wahraan opens account on fifth start

Wahraan ridden by Ryan Moore en route to winning the Ben And Mary Hibbert Memorial Maiden Stakes at Pontefract, England on Tuesday. (Steve Davies / sdphotos.co.uk)

Running in the colours of Al Shaqab Racing, the three-year-old colt Wahraan (FR) (Le Harve x Al Jassasiyah) took the Ben And Mary Hibbert Memorial Maiden Stakes at Pontefract Racecourse in England on Tuesday. Trained by Sir Michael Stoute and ridden by jockey Ryan Moore, the chestnut colt got off the scoresheet on his fifth attempt when taking the 2,000-metre class 5 contest for 3-year-olds and older in game fashion. Breaking quickly from the stalls, Wahraan was quickly taken to the front by Moore and the duo set a steady tempo throughout the first half of the race. Turning for home, the eventual second PENNYMOOR (GB) (Frankel x Penelopa), who is trained by John & Thady Gosden and was ridden by Martin Harley, raised a strong challenge and ranged upsides Wahraan looking threatening. Inside the final furlong and under a drive from Moore, Wahraan began to get the better of his nearest rival and stayed on stoutly to line to score by 1¾ lengths. The pair pulled a long way clear of the David Elsworth-trained and J F Egan-ridden Pirouette Queen (GB) (Pivotal x Something Exciting) who came out of the pack to finish further 6½-lengths behind in third. Bred by his owners Al Shaqab Racing, Wahraan is a son of Monfort and Preaux’s stallion Le Harve and is out of Al Jassasiah (Galileo), whose daughter Mashael (Dubawi) was a listed winner and also group three placed when trained in France by Andre Fabre.