Jarif continues his great love affair with San Siro

MILAN (ITY), OCTOBER 15th, 2023

Premio Milano Jockey Club

Gr3 PA – 4-year-olds & up – 1,800m (9f) – Turf – €41,000

Jarif (Dahess) has raced four times at San Siro… for as many wins: so he clearly loves Italy and Milan! In the Premio Milano – Jockey Club (Gr3 PA) on October 15th, the Haif Mohammed Al Ghatani, Haras Rabodanges and Haseg representative did not have to sweat much to win this. After taking the lead in the home straight and maintaining his momentum right to the wire, he scored a three lengths victory at the main expense of Rasmy Al Khalediah (Nayef Al Khali). Trained by Élisabeth Bernard, in common with Jarif, Sultana (Af Al Buraq), completed the podium – a length and a quarter further back.

In the aftermath Élisabeth Bernard said: “Jarif loves Italy –  just like me! His record of four races, and four wins here, is really quite exceptional. There’s a logical explanation: the horse is a very good traveller, he has a real affinity for San Siro, but, above all, the fast ground  was yet again in his favour. When he races in countries other than Italy, he invariably finds himself racing on very soft, or even heavy, ground, and so he doesn’t show his true form. As for the future, there’s still the option of going to Pisa later in the year, but he’ll need good ground which is very difficult to find at that time of year. I’m a bit disappointed with Sultana: she’s a filly with early pace who likes to race from the front, but I think she ran a bit ‘flat’ on this occasion, having backtracked a bit too early.”

Bred by Haif Mohammed Al Ghatani, Haseg and the Haras de Rabodanges, Jarif was a180.000 € buy back at the Saint-Cloud PA Sale in 2018. He’s a son of Haras de Thouars-based sire Dahess (Amer). The 7-year-old is also a full brother to Arion, also trained by Élisabeth Bernard, and the winner of the IFAHR Cup (L PA) and The President of the UAE Cup (Gr3 PA) at Ostend, before running second to Abbes (TM Fred Texas) in The UAE President Cup – UK Arabian Derby (Gr1 PA) at Doncaster.

He’s out of the outstanding Kiss de Ghazal (Dormane), who won her first nine career starts in France and Britain. Trained by Jean-François Bernard, she won seven PA Group races, including the French Arabian Breeders’ Challenge (Saint-Cloud), the Arabian Trophy (Paris-Longchamp), and the UK Arabian Derby (Grs1 PA) at Ascot. The grandam, Kaoe de Ghazal (Kesberoy), took minor honours as a 3-year-old in the Abu Dhabi Championship at Deauville (which has since upgraded to PA Group status).