Raaheeb sparkles with comfortable victory on Ascot debut

Raaheeb, a full-brother to the top-class pair of Baaeed and Hukum, made the perfect start to his career with a very smooth debut victory at Ascot.

Trained like Hukum by Owen Burrows, he was beginning life over seven furlongs in the Charbonnel et Walker British EBF Maiden Stakes and drawn in stall one, Jim Crowley was out on a wing slightly before being able to angle in as part of a small group of three.

As they began to join up, Crowley moved his mount up on the outside stylishly and it just became a question of what he would find off the bridle.

The answer was plenty as Raaheeb (7-4 favourite) just had to be kept up to his work to beat Pompette, who had the benefit of a run, by a length and a quarter.

Paddy Power cut him to 16-1 from 25s for the Royal Lodge at Newmarket later this month but whether he runs there remains to be seen.

Burrows said: “It was a very pleasing debut. He’d done everything nicely at home but he was only just ready for a run and we managed to get him on the grass on Wednesday.

“I’ll be honest, I thought whatever he did today he’d take a massive step forward from as he’s still quite switched off at the moment, which is obviously a nice way to have them.

“I thought he did it very nicely and it was a professional performance as the draw wasn’t ideal, but he handled the soft ground well and Jim was very pleased.

“There’s mixed messages as to what trip he wants, given his brothers were very different. Jim think he’ll be a mile-and-a-quarter horse next year, maybe further but Richard Hills (Shadwell’s assistant racing manager) tells me Baaeed started off over a mile.

“We’ll see how he comes out of it and make a plan then. We’ll see if he switches on at home, if he does then we might step up (in class) but Jim emphasised whatever he did this year is a bonus, we won’t go overboard this year.

“He reminds me a lot of Hukum in his action yet Michael Hills (who works for William Haggas) was there with Richard today and said he looks a bit like Baaeed, but he’s a bigger horse than Baaeed now, he’s bigger than Hukum at this stage as well.”

In the closing Sodexo Live! Handicap, the Oisin Murphy-ridden favourite Excellent Echo appeared to clip heels and fell, bringing down Nordic Norm and Sam James.

A statement posted on X by Ascot read: “Unfortunately, following an incident during the seventh race today, Excellent Echo suffered a fatal injury. His jockey, Oisin Murphy, walked in and was fine.

“Nordic Norm was taken to the stables for further assessment with cuts and scratches. His jockey, Sam James, was conscious and treated by medical teams on the track and has been transferred to the hospital for further assessment.”