Shalaa set for Sprint showdown after Ascot win

Shalaa returned from a year on the sidelines with victory at Ascot. Picture: Racingfotos.com

Further spice was added to what promises to be a thrilling QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot on October 15 when Shalaa won on his belated return at the Berkshire course on Saturday.

A dual Group One winner last season when an outstanding juvenile, Shalaa’s connections have had to be patient this year as a pelvis injury picked up in the spring has kept him on the sidelines for the bulk of the campaign.

There is still Champions Day to aim at though, and John Gosden believes victory in the Group Three John Guest Bengough Stakes should set him up perfectly.

Without resorting to the whip, Frankie Dettori guided the 7-4 favourite to a neck success over Mehronissa.

“We are very lucky we had the race two weeks before we have the big one,” Gosden said. “If we are happy with the horse over the next few days, we’re longing to come back.

“Obviously the softer it gets, the more it compromises a horse with such an amazing amount of pure speed. But we understand that.

“We’d have loved to be in the Commonwealth Cup, the July Cup and all of those races – it is history.

“It was a good prep, hands and heels, it was not our plan to do any more than that. I told him [Dettori] your stick is for holding – it is only for balance.

“Sheikh Joaan [Al Thani, of owner Al Shaqab Racing] has been amazing. I was at Goodoowd’s Festival of Speed and those fast cars were flying past, and I said I wish horses were like that – you take a part out and put another part in – but they are not.

“He said that whatever time it takes to get Shalaa back, it takes.”

Mecca’s Angel, Quiet Reflection and Twilight Son – all winners of QIPCO British Champions Series races this term – and The Tin Man are among others heading towards the Sprint.

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