Anna Pilroth wins on Macallan
19 August 2017, UK ~ Sweden’s Macallan was victorious in The Royal Cavalry of Oman Clarendon Stakes Gr 3 PA run over five furlongs at Newbury on 19 August 2017.
The Dahess son was ridden by Swedish professional jockey Anna Pilroth and trained by her mother Bodil Blomqvist for a partnership that also included Blomqvist. Run as the opening race of the sell-out Betfred Ladies Day card, the race was oversubscribed requiring horses to be balloted out, with Macallan and Pilroth beating eleven horses home including Group 1 winner Radames, second in the race last year.
Filling the places were (2) Shomoos Athbah (Burning Sand) and (3) Storm Troupour (Nivour de Cardonne), back to try another win after success at Chelmsford seven days earlier. This was Macallan’s second sprint win at this level and he is one of two three-time Za’abeel International Stakes (Gr1PA) winners, the only other pattern sprint race held for Arabians in the UK, also run at Newbury.
A delighted Pilroth commented: “He likes the [soft] ground and I was looking forward to riding him over five furlongs because he is better over shorter distances, so it is a relief that it all worked out. The course here is lovely. I like the undulations, and you need a good horse and you need to think a little bit and plan your race.”
The Arabian Racing Organisation (ARO) Director Genny Haynes said: “We are delighted for Anna and her mother who have been rewarded for their campaign with Macallan, racing him in England for the third time in three weeks, he is clearly a tough horse. We also thank the Royal Cavalry for their continued sponsorship of this race and we welcomed Colonel Abdil Al Hosni and Samil Baabood to present the trophies to Anna.”
“We thank the Royal Cavalry for their support of Arabian racing in the UK and we look forward to their annual Sultanate of Oman Raceday at Windsor, to be held on August Bank Holiday Monday, which concludes their very generous race sponsorship with ARO during the 2017 season.
Photos: Debbie Burt, Equinecreativemedia
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