Al Kazeem: last season’s Coral-Eclipse winner set for Group 1 return

 PICTURE: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Irish Champion could be next for Al Kazeem

Al Kazeem returned to training earlier this season due to being subfertile at stud. After finishing fourth on his comeback run in the Doom Bar Stakes at Newbury, the son of Dubawi bounced back to winning ways in record-breaking style in the Group 3 Winter Hill Stakes at Windsor on Sunday.

Al Kazeem beat True Story by half a length to shave 1.33 seconds off Windsor’s course record, and Charlton now believes the colt is ready for his return to the highest level.

The trainer said: “Mixed fortunes on Saturday with Al Kazeem doing all that could have been expected from him, returning to the winner’s enclosure in great style and in the process lowering the course record by 1.33 seconds which I gather is the equivalent of seven or eight lengths.

“Unfortunately there are no Group races over nine or ten furlongs in England during September so we have not ruled out the idea of returning to Leopardstown to run in the Irish Champion Stakes.

“There is also the La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte Group 3 in France over a straight ten furlongs on September 19th as an alternative.”

Writing on his website, Charlton added: “He clearly needs to improve again to have any chance of adding to his three Group 1s but it is not impossible and we both like a challenge.”

“He has come out of his race well and he was his normal fresh and happy self this morning, in fact he dropped his regular rider while trotting.”

fonte: RacingPost