Covering the two UAE President Cup series for Arabian racehorses in the UK in 2026 at Newbury and Doncaster.
It is expected that trainer Francois Rohaut will declare him with Pasquier on board again but on the basis of the Deauville run Sab aan Al Shahania will need to improve again to confirm the French Derby form back in his own age group
Derby second Romeo AT and the remaining French challenger Laffan have more in common than just their sire AF Al Buraq They are uniquely linked to that champion of the Arabian racehorse the Late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum as bred by him they were both sold in utero at the Auctav bloodstock dispersal sale following his passing
Despite Romeo AT having a higher rating at the time of entry for this race 118 as opposed to 116 on the three occasions they have met all in Group 1PA company over a mile and a quarter Laffan has come out on top At three years in the Al Rayyan Cup Prix Kesberoy and the Qatar Arabian Trophy des Poulains there was a short head and a nose between them This year they didn t cross swords until August in the Doha Cup Prix Manganate and though Romeo AT had the benefit of a win against older horses in May and his near miss in the Derby Laffan finished three lengths ahead Laffan came into the race after break following a too bad to be true thirteenth in the HH The Amir Silver Sword for four year olds in February in Doha But for the late supplementation of HM Alchahine Laffan would have been a clear winner of the Deauville race and of a third Group 1PA
Laffan owned by Al Wasmiyah Racing is also trained by Rohaut who trained his dam Ajaayib to win twice at a minor level for Sheikh Hamdan He was first successful in this race with Al Shaqab Racing s Luwsail in 2024 At the time of writing Maxime Guyon is expected to ride it will be his first in this race Wathnan Racing s Romeo AT bids for a first win in the contest for trainer Xavier Thomas Demeulte with Tom Marquand expected to ride His best finishing position was last year when third on Shaihaan
Also of note is that Romeo AT will also be sporting a hood for the first time having set the fractions at Chantilly under James Doyle he was very free early on at Deauville under Christophe Soumillon so this may represent a change of tactics
Sab aan Al Shahania FR at Saint Cloud
T H E A R A B I A N R A C E H O R S E