Mohaather Pounces to Land Sensational Sussex Victory

The July 29 Qatar Sussex Stakes (G1) at Glorious Goodwood—the race billed as the best of the 2020 flat season—produced a dream result for trainer Marcus Tregoning with Mohaather getting up late in a thriller.

The 3-1 winner, who was ridden by Jim Crowley and is owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, showed his brilliant turn of foot to quicken impressively in the final furlong, repelling three-time group 1 winner Circus Maximus.

Third was Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1) winner Siskin, while QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas (G1) hero Kameko was fourth after a troubled passage.

Tregoning, who is based not far from Salisbury, won the 2006 Vodafone Epsom Derby (G1) with Sir Percy but has endured a long wait for another superstar and top-level triumph.

That came in the glorious Sussex sun as the son of Showcasing demonstrated why connections regard him so highly.

The trainer had thought the 4-year-old would have had a live chance in last year's Two Thousand Guineas but for injury.

Savoring the result of Goodwood's most prestigious contest, Tregoning said: "I've had to wait a long time, but we haven't had the horses.

"When we left Lambourn in 2013 we didn't have very many and it was like starting from the beginning again. Luckily, Sheikh Hamdan supported me and I have to give a big plug to his racing manager Angus Gold, who found this horse as a yearling.

"I went to look at him and thought he was quite small, but thought we'll give it a go as Angus is a good judge and we liked the horse's pedigree.

"It was a tactical race and we thought it would be. I don't blame anyone for that; it's just racing. He struggled to get out as he's not the biggest, but Jim kept his calm and the horse has that massive kick.

"He's very impressive and if he'd got out earlier he'd have won easily—he won easily anyway!"

Mohaather may have a place at his owner's stud near Newmarket in 2021, but is 5-1 (from 10) with Paddy Power and Betfair for the TVG Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T), although the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1) at Ascot in October is also likely to be on his agenda. He earned an automatic berth into the Breeders' Cup Mile from his win in the Sussex, part of the international Breeders' Cup Challenge series.

"No trainer can go without a good team of people," added Tregoning, paying tribute to his staff at home.

"That was one of the hardest things starting after the move without some of the loyal people I had in Lambourn—that was a big thing. It took me 10 years to build that up, but luckily two of my main people—John Kennedy, who looked after Sir Percy, and Angie Kennedy—came with me.

"It's a big thing to come here and it's a big day for the team—and for Sheikh Hamdan too. He's a very good owner to train for and he's a lot of fun too. He takes adversity really well when things don't go right and it's instilled something in my training horses."

Bred by Gaie Johnson Houghton, the mother of trainer Eve, Mohaather won Newbury's Molson Coors Horris Hill (G3) in 2018 and the following season's Watership Down Stud Greenham (G3) at the track, but then missed most of last year.

He was an unlucky seventh in the Queen Anne (G1) at Royal Ascot in June, but sparkled in the Betfred Summer Mile (G2) last time.

Crowley was not on board then, but was thrilled to be on Wednesday.

"He's an airplane," said the jockey. "This is serious. In that race, you're talking about the best milers in Europe and I wouldn't say he's made them look ordinary but he's won very well."

Emotions Run High for Mohaather Breeder Whitsby Manor Stud

Emotions were running high at Whitsbury Manor Stud after Mohaather delivered a thrilling success in the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.

And no wonder, as not only is the  4-year-old colt by the operation's star sire Showcasing, but he also became the first group 1 winner sent out from the racing stables situated on the farm since Look Here landed the Juddmonte Epsom Oaks (G1) for previous tenant Ralph Beckett in 2008.

Stud director Ed Harper watched the race at home with parents Chris and Nicky and was audibly choked up as he reported afterwards: "It was very emotional, watching with mum and dad, and because Marcus is a trainer we so enjoy having at Whitsbury—he's just a nice guy at the end of the day, and it's a pleasure to have him in the village.

"It's a close-knit community. We want the best for the trainer and he wants the best for us. So for that relationship to come together in such a high-profile race is just something else.

"I grew up in the days of Desert Orchid and Persian Punch being trained at Whitsbury, and that was exciting, but this is on another level because it's the two businesses coming together."

Indeed, in an unusual turn of events, the stallion and his highest rated runner are near neighbors.

"Mohaather's box and Showcasing's stable are only a matter of yards from each other," Harper said. "I can see Mohaather's box from my kitchen window, and I see and hear him going past my house with Marcus's string every day.

"We'll have to organize a socially distanced party at the weekend now."

Mohaather, who defeated Galileo's three-time group 1-winning son Circus Maximus and the hitherto undefeated First Defence colt Siskin to land the Sussex Stakes, becomes the third top-level winner for Showcasing after the crack sprinters Advertise and Quiet Reflection.

Showcasing has been nothing short of a phenomenon for Whitsbury Manor Stud. An Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Gimcrack Stakes (G2) winner for Juddmonte in his racing heyday, the son of Oasis Dream was acquired by the Hampshire operation in 2011 and spent the first four seasons covering there at chickenfeed fees.

However, it soon became apparent he was upgrading his mares and he is now credited as the source of 20 group winners and a further 21 listed scorers, including results from his shuttle trips to New Zealand. His Northern Hemisphere fee has stood at £55,000 for the past two years.

"Mohaather brings a new dimension to Showcasing's profile, and allows breeders and trainers a whole range of new races to aim his progeny at," said Harper.

"Mohaather is from a fast family, so it proves Showcasing can get a top-class miler without needing a mare with stamina, and I hope breeders still keep sending their faster mares."

"I have to pay tribute to Gaie Johnson Houghton for sending her mare Roodeye to Showcasing twice, which was a brave move, but she got Prize Exhibit and then Mohaather."

Mohaather and dual U.S. grade 2 winner Prize Exhibit are among eight winners out of Roodeye, a listed-placed daughter of Inchinor. Other siblings include stakes-placed Harbour Master and Roodle, the dam of Johnson Houghton's own Royal Ascot hero Accidental Agent.

Mohaather is the final foal out of the mare, who died in 2016. She was a half sister to four other stakes performers including Darley Prix Morny (G1) third Gallagher, and hailed from the family of high-class sprinting 2-year-olds Astaire, Bannister, and Dead Certain.

Mohaather races in the colors of Hamdan Al Maktoum after being bought for 110,000 guineas (US$151,779) from the Hillwood Stud draft at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.