Unbeaten Baaeed looks to join the greats in York

Baaeed is bidding to join the greats in the £1million Juddmonte International Stakes at York… as the unbeaten colt prepares to face his biggest test yet

• Baaeed is yet to lose any of the nine races he has competed in
• The clot is due to race in the Juddmonte International Stakes at York
• Trainer William Haggas thinks this could be his horse’s biggest test to date 

The perfect racing machine has the stage to show he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the Turf’s most special horses when Baaeed lines up in the £1million Juddmonte International Stakes at York on Wednesday afternoon.

The William Haggas-trained colt arrives at the Knavesmire unbeaten in nine races, all over a mile. It is enough to be crowned a champion and be hailed as the best active racehorse on the planet right now.

But to be a Special One, you need to be able to deliver at more than one specialist distance.

Baaeed is yet to be beaten in nine races that have all been over a mile in distance

On Wednesday Baaeed will race over two and a half furlongs further than he has ever faced before — a different test and one the mighty Frankel passed so memorably in 2012.

Baaeed does have the pedigree to suggest he should possess stamina reserves. His sire is 2009 International Stakes winner Sea The Stars, who also won the mile-and-a-half Derby and Arc, while his dam Aghareed won over 10 furlongs.

But Haggas believes the combination of the race distance and the fact that last year’s International Stakes winner Mishriff stands in his way make this the stiffest test yet for Jim Crowley’s mount.

The added ingredient is the reputation of this race as a graveyard for reputations.

That is probably overblown but nagging at the back of the Haggas brain will be the fact that 50 years ago, in the inaugural running of the International, the great Brigadier Gerard suffered the only defeat in his 18-race career at the hands of Roberto.

Trainer William Haggas is expecting Baaeed to be tested when he races at York

Ile De Chypre (16-1 in 1989), Terimon (16-1 in 1991) and Arabian Queen, the 50-1 shot who beat Derby winner Golden Horn in 2015, have all provided shock results in the race.

Haggas said: ‘You can’t be totally confident about staying because he has so much speed and he is so good at a mile.

‘It would be easy just to stay at a mile but if we had never tried a mile and a quarter, when he is retired everyone would ask what he could have done at that distance.

‘He might not stay and he might get beaten, in which case he will come back to the mile in the Queen Elizabeth II at Ascot.

‘Mishriff is a bloody good horse. He was sensational at York last year and if that Mishriff turns up we’ll be in trouble.

‘It is probably the hardest task Baaeed has had so far because of the unknowns and meeting a top-class horse at his prime distance and on probably his best track.’

Opposition to Baaeed also includes Native Trail, the Irish 2,000 Guineas winner who was a head behind Mishriff when they were second and third to Vadeni in the Eclipse Stakes last month at Sandown.

Haggas also runs Dubai Honour but has had to scratch last year’s runner-up Alenquer.

Comparisons have been made between Baaeed and Frankel (above) but they are very different

Inevitably, comparisons have been drawn between Baaeed and Frankel but they are very different. For the late Sir Henry Cecil, training Frankel was all about harnessing the power and exuberance that threatened to push him over the edge.

Baaeed is more controlled and clinical and he has yet to register a performance rated 130 or higher by official handicappers. Frankel had eight during his remarkable 14-race unbeaten career.

Baaeed needs a rarely achieved 130 performance to match the likes of Cracksman, Golden Horn and 2020 International Stakes winner Ghaiyyath while his sire Sea The Stars was rated 136.

Dominic Gardiner-Hill, the BHA’s head of handicapping, said: ‘Baaeed is probably the horse which has excited me most since Frankel.

‘I do think Baaeed is a 130 horse and have my fingers crossed he proves it to the world.’

That proof could come on Wednesday.

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