‘We Do The Best With What We Have’ – Suroor Back In The Big League At Royal Ascot

[Wandering Eyes]

Despite his string dwindling from an all-time high of 250 horses to having just 30 in training currently, Saeed bin Suroor said he was relishing being back on the biggest stage of all after sending out Arabian Story (Invincible Spirit) to win the Britannia Stakes under Oisin Murphy – a man the trainer labelled as 'different class' following the success.

Carrying the Godolphin blue, Arabian Story made his first ever start on turf a memorable one in the prestigious three-year-old handicap just over a fortnight after breaking his duck on the all-weather at Chelmsford. Talk about an audacious plan. 

And the victory represented yet another top-notch triumph for the trainer-rider combination, who not only struck many times at the highest level before with horses like Benbatl and Mawj, but were also successful in the Royal Hunt Cup 12 months ago with Wild Tiger. 

The trainer said, “We took him to Dubai [over the winter] and physically he improved a lot out there. Oisin rode him at Chelmsford and I told him that, the way he works in the morning, he works really well. I told him to keep him handy that day and I said the same thing today. He won well and he gave him a good ride. Oisin is the best. He's the best jockey in the world. He's different class. He's the three-time champion jockey in Britain.”

Suroor added, “I used to have 250 horses in the past. And quality. But now we have around 30 horses in the stable and many of those are old and the younger ones are backward. Dubai Future is a nine-year-old but is still trying hard and won races in Dubai and finished third in the Gold Cup today. We try to do the best with what we have in the stable.”

Asked if he loved the game as much as ever, the trainer concluded, “always!'

It is hard to argue with the trainer's appraisal of Murphy given the Irish native had just a neck, a head and another neck to spare from his nearest rivals in a what was a bunch finish to the Britannia. Murphy revealed afterwards that, when approached by Suroor to travel to Chelmsford to guide Arabian Story to victory last month, he got an inclination that the trainer might have something special up his sleeve. 

Murphy commented, “Saeed told me a couple of weeks ago that I should go to Chelmsford to ride him in a novice. He said he was a very nice horse. After his novice, Saeed said, 'how good is he?' I said, 'I like him,' so he said, 'let's go to the Britannia.' So this plan was a long time coming and the horse was perfect and I'm delighted to win. We've had many [big wins together] and I'm over the moon.”

Pedigree notes
Saeed bin Suroor knows this family well given he trains Arabian Story's half-brother Olympic Candle who has won twice and reached a decent rating [88]. Arabian Story is out of Sepoy mare Delphinidae, who is a half-sister to Group 1 winner and rock-solid stallion Territories.

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