Thriller at Ascot

Mon 11 May 2026

Winner 63 of 2026: AZURE ZAIN, trained by Richard and Peter Fahey and ridden by Warren Fentiman. The ‘Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0% Blue Handicap’ over 6f at Ascot.

 An 18-runner field on Victoria Cup Day at Ascot, combined with a low draw, looked like a tough assignment on paper for our 4-year-old gelding.

But he pinged the stalls under young Warren Fentiman , and within a few yards, our jockey got him right across to the near side rail, just behind the leading pairs. The powerfully travelling Azure Zain was just about to make his challenge between horses, as he found himself short of room inside the final furlong.

Our Arqana Breeze Up Sale graduate showed a fantastic attitude, battling gamely through the narrow gap and hit the line hard to deny the eventual second horse his victory by a head. A fine performance from the son of Hello Youmzain, who was our first winner for the newly formed partnership between Richard and his son, Peter Fahey.

We have been busy at the 2026 Breeze Up Sales and have hopefully unearthed some exciting, talented individuals.

Follow the link to our shares page to have a closer look and find out more ( Shares are selling fast ) :

BUY SHARES

Watch the full race replay here: https://www.attheraces.com/racecard/Ascot/09-May-2026/1640

Timeform rated his victory with a 85: "Had been given a further 12 weeks off since his disappointing comeback run and returned to form back on turf, looking much more straightforward this time and benefiting from a positive ride from his talented claimer, albeit one that incurred him 2 separate careless riding bans (7 days in total); quickly switched towards near-side rail early, in touch, headway over 1f out, switched again last ½f, edged ahead close home; he's relatively low mileage in sprint handicapper terms but now needs to prove he can back this up."

To view and purchase the official winning photos from the day, please follow the link below:

https://meganrosephotography.photoshelter.com/gallery/Race-7/G0000CvGDZ25rUbg/C0000gBqukBxZ3J8