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| Rowan Anderson |
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As the best racing talent rolled out on the track at Bahrain with the running of the Listed Crown Prince’s Cup with it came another double from the powerhouse Godolphin.
Charlie Appleby once again teaming up with Richard Mullen to dominate and deliver victories in both the Listed Crown Prince's Cup and Anchorman Cup.
A strong field of fifteen contested the Listed feature regarded as one of Bahrain’s most prestigious races and it was the 4YO Warren Point winning by a margin of three lengths over the Hesham Al Haddad trained Tawaareq.
The winner is a gelded son of Dubawi and although he did not see a track as a two year old the following year he exploded announcing himself on the world stage winning a valuable handicap at the 2022 Goodwood Festival before stepping up to Listed company to win the Floodlit Stakes at Kempton last October.
Hoop Mullen used the race speed to his advantage ignoring the three-pound penalty and powerfully pushing clear of the pack leaving Tawaareq to runner up for the second year running.
‘It has been a good day for the team and delighted to come home with two horses that we hoped would be competitive. Warren Point was a horse I had always hoped would turn into a nice horse and he is building up the profile into a nice horse now. They went a good gallop and that pleased me as that was one thing we’ve seen is that he is effective over 10 and 12 furlongs so stamina wasn’t going to be a concern,” Appleby said.
Richard Mullen had not ridden in Bahrain for three years but flew in from Dubai for the two Godolphin rides. He was impressed with his mount and the performance he threw up when called upon.
“He’s a talented horse, he’s got low mileage and he is coming off the back of a Listed win in the UK. He had all the form in the book to come here but they’ve got to come and do it. The main thing with him is that he just got into a nice rhythm as he can be quite gassy in his races but they went a nice pace and I was able to just track them. He’ll be an exciting horse going forward for some of these races around the GCC or he could get some more black type in Europe over the summer.”
In the first leg of the Godolphin double, the £60,000 Anchorman Cup was won by King Of Conquest. The win made it Godolphin and Appleby’s first win for this season’s Bahrain Turf Series and the 4YO broke the track record in the run.
Richard Mullen settled the gelded son of Lope De Vega just off the pace but with the pack turning for home the hoop pulled him out finding plenty under the persuasion of Mullen to win by a length.
“We hoped stepping up King of Conquest to 9-furlongs would suit him and bring about further improvement which it did. The ground was quick enough for him so it was a brave performance. They were two great rides by Richard today and I would also like to thank the Bahrain Turf Club for putting on a good event. For us to be able to come over and participate is great and to have a couple of winners is even better,” Appleby commented on the ride.
“It was a very good performance. He broke very well and I was always in a nice position and always happy. Just as the race started to develop down the hill I was mindful that I didn’t want to ask him too many serious questions early on. Once I swung into the straight, you have another element which is the headwind. He then quickened away, and I think he’s broken the track record so it was an impressive performance,” Mullen added.
Last year’s winner What’s The Story stuck on for second with Hesham Al Haddad runner up to Appleby stable once again.
However, Al Haddad would have his trip to the winners circle preparing the winner of the second Bahrain Turf Series race of the day, The Hawar Cup run over 6 furlongs (1200m). Deep Intrigue returned to form under young Omani jockey Anas bin Salim Al Siyabi having won the Al Wasmiya Cup as part of the 2021/22 Turf Series. The 7YO gelded son of Dark Angel was having his first run for trainer Hesham Al Haddad returning to the track after a 350 day break.