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Multiple Group 1 winner misses Breeders’ Cup Turf after muscle soreness
Multiple Group 1-winning son of Dubawi (Dubai Millennium) Ghaiyyath has been retired after showing muscle soreness after a routine piece of work and he will now take up stud duties at Darley’s Kildangan Stud in Ireland.
After breaking his maiden on his second start as a two-year-old, Ghaiyyath took out the Autumn Stakes (Gr 3, 1m) at Newmarket and landed the Prix du Prince d'Orange (Gr 3, 2000m) on his sole start at three.
He landed the first of his four career Group 1s when he took out the Grosser Preis von Baden (Gr 1, 2400m) in September 2019.
However, it was during his five-year-old career he really flourished, kicking off with a victory in the Dubai Millennium Stakes (Gr 3, 2000m), before stringing together three consecutive victories at the top-level in the Coronation Cup (Gr 1, 1m4f), Eclipse Stakes (Gr 1, 1m2f) - in which he beat multiple Group 1-winning champion mare Enable (Nathaniel) and International Stakes (Gr 1, 1m2f) at York. He was last seen running a good second to multiple Group 1-winning mare Magical (Galileo) in the Irish Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 1m2f).
Charlie Appleby said “Ghaiyyath has had a fantastic career winning nine of his 13 races. His high-class cruising speed and relentless style of galloping was a joy to watch and as I have said before, this year he came together both physically and mentally and looked the finished article. It is obviously disappointing not to be taking him to the Breeders' Cup but the exertions of a long season, which started in Dubai in January, were starting to show and the decision has been made to retire him.
“He was an outstanding part of the Moulton Paddocks team and I know that his numerous top-level successes gave our Principal, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, a great deal of pleasure."
Joe Osborne, managing director of Godolphin in Ireland, said: “Ghaiyyath is a great addition to our roster: his superior ability as a racehorse combined with his looks and his pedigree will make him a sought-after option for breeders. We are delighted he will be standing at Kildangan Stud next season."
The colt is out of 2006 Irish 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) winner Nightime (Galileo), making him a half-brother to 2017 Man O' War Stakes (Gr 1, 11f) winner Zhukova (Fastnet Rock) and three other winners.
Nightime herself is a half-sister to Mermaid Island (Mujadil) - the dam of South Australian Listed scorer Ondina (Manhattan Rain), while her sister Phaenomena produced last week’s Meguro Kinen (Gr 2, 2500m) winner King Of Koji (Lord Kanaloa).
The colt is bred on the same cross as fellow Group 1 winner and now successful sire Night Of Thunder.
