Horse Racing

‘We thought he was a Guinean horse,’


Linkions of Al Riffa (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), winner of G1 National S.

Khalifa Bin Ahmed Alattiyah, a familiar face on Irish races and on the sales track, was at Curragh on Sunday to see Al Riffa, owned by his cousin Jassim Bin Ali Al Attiyah, the rival tower his.

Al Riffa not only gave crack youngster Dylan Browne McMonogle his first Group 1 success in the saddle, but he also earned his owner a high-level breakout win. in Ireland after many attempts, with Alattiyah labeling his cousin as “a lucky man.”

Alattiyah, who along with his close friend Mohamed Al Mansour have run some horses with O’Brien in the Al Mamoura Partnership, revealed his family is now expecting a tilt in the Prix Jean- Luc Lagardere or Dewhurst before dreaming of Classic Glory for Al Riffa during the winter.

“We thought it was a horse that would perform better as a 3-year-old when we bought it as a child,” said Alattiyah. His class allowed him to do what he did.

“Physically, he is a really nice horse and quite unfurnished. He is just a frame horse and he will fill in a lot. Honestly, we haven’t even seen the best of him yet.”

He added, “When you see him in the flesh, there’s no way you’d think this was a horse that could win an S. He had the right to pick Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and also Dewhurst. The decision will be left to Joseph.

“Al Riffa plays in the colors of my cousin Jassim Bin Ali Al Attiyah. I was with Joseph when he bought him as a wish [for 150,000gns at Book 1 at Tattersalls] last year. Al Riffa really was Jassim’s first finisher in Ireland – he’s a lucky man! “

Fortune certainly favored Al Riffa’s relationships, but no one could accuse Alattiyah of not working with O’Brien for a desirable revenue.

While some owners prefer to take a more passive approach to securing talent, Alattiyah attended most of the sales himself and revealed that he plans to actively participate in the Orby Sale at Goffs at the end of this month.

He said, “Joseph has helped me a lot. Niall Ryan also helped me a lot. He played a big role in helping to secure everything that we had. He’s a wonderful guy. Anytime I need help, I call him, between Niall and Joseph, these are the people who have really helped me and taught me the most.

“Horses are in our blood. We own Arabian horses in our home country of Qatar and those families were raised by our great, great grandfathers. In some cases, we can trace some of those families for 80 to 100 years. I have loved racing since I was a child and have followed Sea The Stars (Ire), Frankel (GB), Camelot (GB) and Australia (Ire) so I’ve been exploring racing in Europe since I was 18 or 19 years old. “

At the beginning of his relationship with O’Brien, he added, “My friend Mohamed Al Mansour introduced me to Joseph. He owns everything 50-50 with me in the Al Mamoura Partnership. “Mohamed went to work for Coolmore to hone his knowledge of horses and racing and it was there that he met Aidan. [O’Brien] and Joseph. The first sale we made with Joseph was at Doncaster in 2016 and since then I’ve been really happy to know he’s the type of guy with the same goals as us. We bought two goji berries that day and had some luck with them. Our luck has continued on Al Riffa and now it looks like we have a nice horse.

“It’s a great story and we’re really lucky that everyone at Hill – Tara Armstrong, Mark Power, Brendan Powell and Faisal Hayat – helped us out. We will be at the Orby Sale. The plan is to try and buy some annuities there. “

Southern Lights (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), first win in Leopardstown, who ran in last year’s Derby and scored 104th, and three-time scorer Hadman (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), were some of the better horses that Alattiyah was associated with.

Currently, he is yet to play against O’Brien, but says that could change in the near future, explaining that he plans to support his team in Ireland.

“Most of the horses I own at Joseph’s run in partnership,” he said. I haven’t run a horse in silk of my own yet but hopefully that will happen next month. I love going to the store. “We do our best to find beautiful horses like Al Riffa. Finding someone as good as him is our dream. I look for quality. I like miles and average distance horses. First of all, we’re looking at a good physical, and then we’re looking for pedigree.”

He added, “If you ask me my dream is to win the Derby. As an owner or a breeder, that’s what I want to do. Sometimes, when you’re on sale, you might see something that looks good and goes quickly, and we don’t mind buying those either. But the main thing we look for is class.

“Joseph thinks Al Riffa is a Guinean horse. He will probably start in Guineas next year and after that our dream is to win the Derby. That would be the dream but for now, Joseph thinks that if he has a good winter and doesn’t have any setbacks, he has enough class to be a Guineas horse, so that’s exciting. . “





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