The roster is rolling at Al Shaqab

THE AL SHAQAB team of stallions has put in a noteworthy season to date with timely results for the roster as the yearling sales season fast approaches.

Zelzal and Armor who stand at the beautiful Haras de Bouquetot near Deauville, have been enjoying strong seasons on course, while all eyes will be on Lusail, the Gimcrack and July Stakes winner by Mehmas, with his first yearlings set to face market judgment at the nearby Arqana sales ground.

In his sixth season with runners Zelzal is on course to record the best results of his career. He has headed the French sires’ list for much of the year, only recently giving way to Wootton Bassett by prize-money won, but is still clear by the number of winners bred.

For Al Shaqab’s general manager Bertrand Le Metayer, the world is only waking up to what he and the team have known for quite a while.

“Zelzal is the real deal,” he states. “His results on the track are showing now just what he is capable of and we are very excited for the future with him.

“We are looking forward to his yearlings selling at Arqana October, a sale he did very well at in 2025, and on the back of good sales and racecourse results his fee is likely to incease for 2027.”

Already this year, Zelzal has notched a career-high tally of stakes winners with five to date, two of them Group winners, which matches last year’s total and is just one shy of his best from 2022.

The 13-year-old, who won the Prix Jean Prat (G1) and was third in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin, is a lively reminder that his sire - Sea The Stars - is not just a source of middle-distance class.

Unraced at two, Zelzal is bred on the outstanding Sea The Stars-Kingmambo cross that has a remarkable 37 stakes winners-to-runners with five of them victorious at the highest level, including champion Baaeed and his full-brother Hukum.

Zelzal is the sire of 16 stakes winners from 288 runners, which gives him a respectable stakes winners-to-runners percentage of 5.5.

Five of those black-type winners are at Group level with the possibility of a first Group 1 winner for the captain of Al Shaqab’s team looking ever more likely.

Alam, Al Shaqab’s homebred three-year-old son of Zelzal, is the most recent Group winner for Zelzal, who stood for €10,000 in 2026.

Aalto: below, winning the Bunbury Cup for the second time, the Zelzal gelding loves 7f on fast ground at Newmarket

Aalto: below, winning the Bunbury Cup for the second time, the Zelzal gelding loves 7f on fast ground at Newmarket

Winner of the Prix Greffulhe (G3), Alam was a close fifth in the Prix du Jockey-Club (G1), the best placed of the French runners behind the Aidan O’Brien 1-2-3 and Donnacha O’Brien’s fourth placed colt.

Alam has since confirmed himself a three-year-old of the highest quality when a head and a neck third in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris on his first attempt at the 1m4f trip. He just failed to catch Maltese Cross, who is a son of Zelzal’s sire Sea The Stars, and proved he stays the trip.

Le Metayer is particularly pleased by the emergence of Alam.

“We were delighted with Alam’s performance in the Grand Prix de Paris and he is going to be trained with the Arc as his aim, taking in one of the trials on the way.

“It is very important for us to have a homebred by one of our stallions flying the flag for Al Shaqab in the most prestigious domestic races,” says Le Metayer.

The colt is a second generation homebred for the operation and the third generation to have carried the Al Shaqab silks. Alam is the first foal of Katara, a dual Listed winner by Deep Impact and out of the Group 2 Park Hill Stakes third Asyad. The New Approach mare was bought as a yearling and is out of the multiple Group 1 winner Elle Danzig.

Zelzal second crop son Aalto regained the Bunbury Cup at Newmarket’s July meeting with the six-year-old delighting trainer Ian Williams. Winner of the race in 2024 and second by a nose last year, 7f over the July course brings out the best in the gelding.

So taken is Williams with Aalto that earlier this month he went to Arqana and spent €42,000 on Al Ghariya, a very well-related three-year-old daughter of Zelzal.

Bred by Al Shaqab, she is a half-sister to the Listed Prix Charles Laffitte winner Mashael (Dubawi) and out of Al Jassasiyah, an unraced Galileo full-sister to Oaks winner Was.

Zelzal’s success this season has come around the globe with three-year-old stakes winners such as Piana, successful in the Listed Jumeirah 1,000 Guineas at Meydan, and Bandiagara, winner of the Penn Oaks.

Haras de Saint-Voir’s homebred four-year-old Zelzal colt Mise En Boite has progressed with age, earning his first Group win at the beginning of July in the Prix de Ris-Orangis at Deauville.

Out of the winning Acclamation mare Acclamee, he is a full-brother to the Listed winner and Group 3-placed sprinter Knock On, who was from Zelzal’s second crop.

The stallion’s three-year-olds are his biggest crop by far with 123 named foals, more than double the size of each of his previous four crops. They were conceived after the juvenile exploits of his first crop, which produced 11 winners, one at stakes level.

In total, that first crop has yielded four stakes winners, a figure matched by his 2020 and 2022 crops with his 2023 crop on course to achieve or better that result.

So far this year he has produced four juvenile winners from 12 runners with Weatherbys recording 50 two-year-olds registered on their database.

Le Metayer revealed that on the strength of Zelzal’s success he was the third busiest stallion in France this year, covering 136 mares and that his fee is likely to be even higher again next year.

Armor impressing with two crops of racing age

The third crop of Armor is due to come under the hammer shortly, and its predecessors’ racing results will ensure the yearlings will be high on the shortlists for trainers and breeze-up consignors.

From the stallion’s first crop have come eight winners from just 17 runners with three of those winners (37.5 per cent) winning at two.

In total, Armor had just 14 juvenile runners from his first crop, but they included Canalejas.

He won on his second start at Toulouse over 7f in June and went on to earn black-type in three races last year, finishing third in the Listed Prix Bernard Ferrand on his third start, and claiming the same position in the Group 3 Prix des Chenes at Chantilly before completing his hat trick of black-type bronzes in the Criterium du Languedoc (L).

He was beaten by a day in the race to become Armor’s first stakes winner, his victory in ParisLongchamp’s Prix de Pontarme coming on May 14.

That debut stakes winner for Armor was his second-crop filly Valentina Bella, who won the Listed Prix des Rêves d’Or at Vichy on her second start.

Owned by a collective which includes her breeders, Camille and Guillaume Vitse of Normandie Breeding, on her most recent outing Valentina Bella finished a respectable seventh of 25 in the Group 3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot, beaten just over 6l by Libertango, who is by No Nay Never, also the sire of Armor.

The filly’s breeding is a source of particular pleasure for the team at Al Shaqab as her broodmare sire is Mehmas, whom they stand at Tally-Ho Stud in partnership with the O’Callaghan family.

Christophe Soumillon, her jockey on that occasion, reported that the filly had been denied the opportunity for a clear run so there is likely more to come from this exciting two-year-old.

Armor’s second crop have outshone their predecessors’ efforts. Despite having just the 14 juvenile runners at the time of writing, he is the sire of five winners.

Armor Supreme, trained in Ireland by Diego Dias, is one of that quintet and she was runner-up in the LIsted Marygate Stakes at York’s Dante meeting.

The filly was snapped up for just €4,000 by DNA Equine in Part 2 of last year’s Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, consigned by Browne Brothers Bloodstock.

Barry Irwin’s globally successful Team Valor International have bought into Armor Supreme.

She, too, ran at Royal Ascot, the Queen Mary (G2) in her case when she was ninth, beaten just 4l by Victorious.

She holds some big mid-season juvenile entries.

To this point, Armor is the sire of 31 runners from his first two crops with 13 winners, two of them at stakes level.

That is a better figure than many of his contemporaries can boast and given the smaller numbers he has covered and at a fee of €5,000 in each of his first four seasons at stud, marks him out as a stallion to watch.

Armor was bred by Christopher Steadman and sold at Arqana’s October Yearling Sale by La Motteraye. At €55,000 he is one of the least expensive of Al Shaqab’s yearling purchases but proved a shrewd buy.

Sent to England and the yard of Richard Hannon, Armor made an immediate impression with success on debut in a 5f Doncaster maiden, defeating El Caballo (Havana Gold) by a length. Almost two months elapsed between that win and his next run - Royal Ascot’s Windsor Castle Stakes - and he was fifth to Chipotle.

The Group race breakthrough came on his third start, winning Goodwood’s Molecomb (G3) easily before a close fourth to Perfect Power (Ardad) in the Group 1 Prix Morny. He followed that up with second in the Flying Childers (G2) and earned his Group 1 black-type when third in the Middle Park, a race that was also won by Perfect Power.

Armor’s final start came in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2) and with so much speed and precocity, he was retired to Haras de Bouquetot for the 2022 breeding season.

Out of Hestia, a winning daughter of High Chaparral, Armor’s second dam - Perruche Grise - is a Mark Of Esteem half-sister to Pinson (Halling), who won the Group 2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano and Group 3 Prix Daphnis and their dam, Tadorne, was placed three times in Listed company.

Tadorne is an Inchinor half-sister to four Group-placed Listed winners and to the dam of Native Khan, successful in the Craven Stakes (G3) and third in the 2,000 Guineas and now a leading sire in Turkey.

A dark bay, almost black horse, Armor resembles his sire strongly with a sprinter’s physique to match.

Lusail first yearlings for sale

Lusail stands alongside Zelzal, Armor, Wooded and Al Hakeem and was bred by Tally-Ho Stud, who stands his sire Mehmas in partnership with Al Shaqab for whom the Acclamation colt raced.

A 160,000gns purchase at Tattersalls Book 2, Al Shaqab elected to send the second-crop son of Mehmas into training with Richard Hannon who had masterminded his sire’s career.

Lusail emulated Mehmas by winning the Group 2 July Stakes and was the sire’s second successive winner of the Gimcrack at York, following in the hoof prints of Minzaal.

Unlike his sire, Lusail remained in training beyond his two-year-old career and displayed good form early in the season as he was runner-up to Perfect Power (Ardad) in the Group 3 Greenham Stakes, fifth in the 2,000 Guineas, second in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes and third in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat.

Lusail had four starts as a four-year-old and was fifth of 12 behind Modern Games in the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes.

He began his stud career at a fee of €6,000, and that has been reduced by €1,000 in each subsequent season.

Out of a Diamond Green half-sister to the Golden Jubilee Stakes (G1) winner Fayr Jag (Fayruz), Lusail is bred for speed.

Al Hakeem’s first foals delight

The team at Al Shaqab is admits to some excitement about the first foals of the homebred Siyouni stallion Al Hakeem.

“We are delighted with Al Hakeem’s first foals, he has stamped them very well and they are a lovely group,” says Le Mettayer.

“It is very encouraging for us and for the breeders who use him to see that he has started so well.”

Bred on the Siyouni-Galileo cross that has produced St Mark’s Basilica, Al Hakeem won the Group 2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano and finished fourth in both the Group 1 Prix du Jockey-Club and Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

An attractive and well-made horse, he is out of the Group 3 Prix Penelope third Jadhaba, who is a daughter of the multiple Group 2 winner Naissance Royale by Giant’s Causeway.

With Siyouni established among the elite of Europe’s stallions and St Mark’s Basilica producing two Group 1 winners in his first crop, Al Hakeem represents a sire line that is gaining in influence and prominence.

Wooded seals Swettenham alliance

Al Shaqab’s stallions are not just based in France – Mehmas is in Ireland and Toronado, who is resident in Australia at Swettenham Stud.

Formerly shuttling between Normandie and Victoria, the Group 1 winner by High Chaparral has been based permanently in Australia for four years now and is riding a wave of success.

He will be joined again for the southern hemisphere season by Wooded, Al Shaqab’s Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye-winning son of Wootton Bassett, who has departed France on the journey to Swettenham as Al Shaqab and Adam Sangster team up once more.

“We are pleased to continue our association with Adam and his team at Swettenham Stud, where Toronado is thriving and Wooded is proving popular as a shuttle stallion,” says Le Metayer.

A full-brother to Group 1 Phoenix Stakes winner Bucanero Fuerte, Wooded’s oldest northern hemisphere crop are four-year-olds and include last year’s Group 1 Prix Jean Prat winner Woodshauna and Jawwal, who came close to emulating his sire in the Abbaye when second to Australian star mare Asfoora.

Both Woodshauna and Jawwal were bred by Al Shaqab proving yet again the operation’s commitment to supporting its stallions.

The former was sold at the Goffs London Sale to American owner John Stewart’s Resolute Racing. Fast making his presence felt globally, Stewart’s first European Group 1 winner in his colours was Woodshauna.

The stallion’s first southern hemisphere crop are two-year-olds and his first runner - Crank - was a winner on debut with the promise of more to come.

Al Ghadeer continues to smash records

Standing alongside the Thoroughbreds at Haras de Boquetot is an Arabian stallion who earned legendary status on the track.

Al Ghadeer was a champion every year he raced and claimed Arabian racing’s Triple Crown not once but twice, an unprecedented achievement.

The seven-year-old is a son of Al Shaqab’s brilliant Al Mourtajez, and retired to stud this year as the winner of ten Group 1 races. Those victories including three consecutive successes in the Group 1 Qatar Arabian World Cup which is held at ParisLongchamp on Arc weekend, and two victories in the HH The Amir’s Sword in Qatar.

It is a race record of rare accomplishment.

Al Shaqab stands Arabian stallions in Qatar and at Haras de Thouars near Castella in south-west France, a farm at the cutting edge of equine reproduction.

It is where Al Mourtajez stands, but when it came to his outstanding son, the bold decision was taken to stand Al Ghadeer in Normandy and the results have amazed the team.

“It was remarkable to stand an Arabian stallion of Al Ghadeer’s quality in the north of France as it is not the usual location for top-class Arabian horses but he has been incredibly popular,” says Le Metayer.

He adds: “Already he has ‘covered’ 200 mares using fresh and frozen semen. We are delighted with how well it has worked.”

Arabians or thoroughbreds, the future looks exceptionally bright for the Al Shaqab stallions.