Saeed Bin Surour pleased as Sajjhaa draws lucky number eight

Dubai: Godolphin’s dual Group 1 winning filly Sajjhaa received an early boost ahead of Sunday’s HK$14 million (Dh6.6 million) Audemars Piguet QEII Cup by drawing an ideal barrier of stall eight in Thursday’s Post Position draw.

Trained by Saeed Bin Surour, the six-year-old daughter of King’s Best chases a third straight win at the premier level, following rousing performances in the Jebel Hatta (G1) and Dubai Duty Free (G1) during the recent Dubai World Cup Carnival.

While admitting that Sajjhaa, a horse that he rates as the best in his stable, will have to be at the top of her game in Sunday’s Sha Tin showpiece the Emirati handler said he was happy with the draw.

“According to local culture number eight is considered to be lucky, and I’m not going to disagree with that,” Bin Surour told Gulf News shortly after attending the draw.

“Sajjhaa’s a very tough and capable filly, and I couldn’t be happier with her form going into the race. But you always need a little luck, and considering that she will be taking on some very tough colt’s I think she could do with a little bit of good fortune.”

Sajjhaa is the seventh horse to represent Godolphin in the QEII Cup, but only the first since Grandera finished fifth behind Eishin Preston 11 years ago.

Bin Surour recalls saddling Overbury to win the 2,000m contest back in 1996 and said: “Godolphin won the first ever QEII Cup with Red Bishop and then a year later Overbury made it two out of two.

“However, we were a bit unlucky in subsequent attempts with Limpid (6th), Iscan (6th), Sobieski (12th) and Grandera (5th),” he pointed out.

“Obviously the race has been very competitive as it attracts some of the best middle distance horses from around the world.

“This year’s renewal is no different with strong contenders like Ambitious Dragon (winners in 2011), California Memory (2nd in 2011) and Thumbs Up (2nd in 2012), but I am confident that she will run a big race.

“She’s very genuine and capable, as she has shown this year with two Group 2 and two Group 1 wins. So you have got to be hopeful that she will improve further for that.”

Bin Surour said that he believed the stall eight, which produced last year’s winner Rulership, would help his horse to find a good position in the 14-runner race, where he would like to see her sit handy under jockey Silvestre de Sousa.

“She’s quite versatile, but I would like to see her stay out of trouble during the race, and she can do that by sitting off the pace,” he said.

“Hopefully the race will be run at a quicker pace which would suit her just right.”

Among the horses behind her when she won the $5 million (Dh18.3 million) Duty Free on Dubai World Cup night in March, was former South African champion Igugu, who is one of two horses former QEII Cup winning handler Mike de Kock has in the race.

Another was Treasure Beach, who was ninth in this race last season before a Dubai Carnival campaign in which he finished eighth to Animal Kingdom in the $10 million Dubai World Cup (G1).

Other notable contenders include 2010 Japanese Derby (G1) winner Eishin Flash and Hong Kong-trained Military Attack, a rising star in on the thriving domestic racing scene.