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| Rowan Anderson |
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Phillip Collington is synonymous with Arabians and has showcased his ability to train his stable to conquer across years as well as races.
He will now prepare Ekleel Athbah for the Group Two Al Mneefah Cup with his 5YO having already won the Group Two Royal Calvary of Oman International Stakes last August.
He is the UK’s leading Purebred Arabian trainer and was awarded the ARO Champion Trainer award last year.
Collington now prepares him for The Saudi Cup meeting’s $1 million Al Mneefah Cup presented by the Ministry Of Culture on 24 February.
In the Group Two victory at Newbury it was Tadhg O’Shea onboard but for this occasion it will be master Arabian rider and six-time French Champion Jockey Olivier Peslier booked to partner the five-year-old.
Collington was confident having booked Peslier for the ride.
“We’ve recently confirmed that Olivier [Peslier] will ride her, which is great. Obviously, he’s fantastic on Arabians, but I think his style and generally the way Olivier rides will suit her.”
Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Cup meeting are not new territory for Collington having been placed in the G1 Obaiya Arabian Classic at the inaugural Saudi Cup meeting in 2020, and before that winning one of the most valuable Purebred Arabian prizes, the G1 Jewel Crown in Abu Dhabi.
“We’re very excited to be invited back to The Saudi Cup meeting for our third visit. We were third in the Obaiya Arabian Classic at the very first running of The Saudi Cup in 2020 with Mashhur Al Khalediah. He had previously won the Jewel Crown in Abu Dhabi at the end of 2019.
“The Obaiya is a really tough race. I think we didn’t quite stay that year with Mashhur because 2000m on the dirt was very hard for him.”
Collington is confident that his mare will take well to the turf course in Riyadh which was a great reason the Al Mneefah Cup was the target after the race was promoted from Listed to Group 2 status this season.
Ekleel broke the 1200m track record at Newbury last year but has since stepped up in trip and won twice over the Al Mneefah trip of 2100m.
“Now we’ve got the Al Mneefah, which is a newer race on the turf track, added to The Saudi Cup meeting. I think this filly has every chance of doing well at that distance and on that track.
“It never really struck us that she was just a sprinter. It was more the fact we knew she had more than enough speed to be able to compete in those races, so we took advantage of it.
“We’ve always thought 1600m to 2100m would be her best distance – probably not a lot further than that – but then the best races are over those distances. She can be at her best over this distance, and especially on turf, as we know that the all-weather wouldn’t be her favoured surface.”