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 Friday, October 5, 2007

  NEWMARKET, 4.25, Mdn, 9,000, 2yo, 7fT, 1:26.21, gd

  Almajd (Ire), C, 2, by Marju (Ire)

1st Dam: Irish Valley, by Irish River (Fr)

2nd Dam: Green Valley (Fr), by Val de Loir (Fr)

3rd Dam: Sly Pola, by Spy Song

There was a pre-race buzz about Newmarket’s Rowley Mile track and those who took heed of the whispers were rewarded with a highly encouraging debut performance from 11-4 chance Almajd. The bay homebred was out sharply to be handily placed through the early strides and travelled smoothly throughout this debut. Challenging wide at the quarter-mile, the half-sister to Green Pola (Nijinsky II), GSW-Fr; and Alhaarth (Ire) (Unfuwain), Hwt. 2yo Colt-Eng, Hwt. Older Horse-Ire at 7-9.5f, G1SW-Eng, GSW & G1SP-Ire, MGSW-Fr, $573,383, hooked up with market rival Virtual (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) at the distance and powered up the hill to comfortably best that rival by 1 1/4 lengths. "He had worked very pleasingly and is a very quick learner," trainer Sir Michael Stoute commented. "He’s not a robust horse, so he was quite easy to get nicely tuned for his first start. He was quite professional there and I would say he could be useful." He received a post-race quote of 25-1 for both the G1 English 2000 Guineas and G1 Epsom Derby from Blue Square. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, £5,829.

O: Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum | B: Shadwell Estate Company Ltd | T: Sir Michael Stoute