Cheesy titles aside Phoenix Thoroughbreds will be heading into this year’s Royal Ascot with their strongest team for the event to date.
Having first entered the fray at the Royal Meeting two years ago with one runner the innovative investment fund had three representatives last season and their team could potentially swell to eight this time around, perhaps acting as a mirror to the group’s global growth and influence since their inception. Take Me With You’s Albany third was the Dubai based owners opening foray into the meeting while 12 months ago Signora Cabello provided a first winner by landing the Queen Mary. Meanwhile, Advertise finishing 2nd in the Coventry and Walk In the Sun running an excellent sixth in the Albany added to a successful week.
“It was a dream come true to win at Royal Ascot.” Said Phoenix Thoroughbreds CEO Amer Abdulaziz in an interview with the Press Association this week, “From my point of view winning at Royal Ascot was better than winning any Derby in the world,
“There’s no doubt about it – Royal Ascot attracts the best horses in the world. The form is very strong, the capital gains are huge – and the prize-money, while not the best in the world, is still not bad compared to other races.
“With Ascot it is not about the prize-money – if I had to put it in a private equity term it is the capital gain that comes with the win. Also, the publicity – winning a race there puts you on the map on an international stage.”
Last year’s heroine Signora Cabello will be the first of the fund’s octet to take their chance this week with the John Quinn trained runner declared to face some of the world’s best sprinters in the Kings Stand on an opening day.
Although Phoenix will have a blank Wednesday, they could have a pair of runners carrying their white and orange silks in the Britannia Stakes with both King Ademar and Dubai Dominion holding entries, although the latter also could take up and engagement in the Jersey on the final day.
It could be a quartet of chances on Friday for the company founded by Abdulaziz two years ago. Advertise is due to step back to the trip that landed him a Group One prize last season in the Commonwealth Cup, new Irish purchase Back To Brussels is in the Albany, Mistress Of Love could go handicapping for the first time in the Sandringham Stakes while trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam is hoping Deja gets into the Duke Of Edinburgh field.
To round off Royal Ascot 2019 and joining the aforementioned Dubai Dominion (Jersey) on the entries list is Sands Of Mali. The Richard Fahey trained sprinter is scheduled to return to the scene of his greatest triumph in the Group One Champions’ Sprint when he takes on a truly international field in the Diamond Jubilee.