We’ve become accustomed to seeing Mark Johnston-trained runners head out in front and stay there, just as Quai d’Orsay (Sulamani) did at Hamilton on Sunday, when he left his rivals trailing by more than three lengths. His victory was matched in style by that of his stablemate Takaatuf, a colt from the second crop of Dubai Destination, on Thursday.
Jumping off smartly in the mile maiden at Pontefract, the two-year-old was never headed and was three-and-a-half lengths clear at the post. A 100,000gns yearling, he was bred by Ballyreddin Stud in Ireland from the Barathea mare Karlaka, who is a half sister to the Aga Khan’s Doncaster Cup winner Kasthari. Takaatuf is her first foal and she has a yearling by Dubawi.
This win was the fifth in a fortnight for a Dubai Destination juvenile. The young stallion boasts a 34 per cent winners to runners ratio for his two-year-olds and a 40.2 per cent ratio for all his runners in Europe, the oldest of whom are now three. Such a strike rate puts him ahead of his contemporaries such as Oasis Dream (38.2 per cent), Acclamation (37.9 per cent), High Chaparral (33.3 per cent) and Nayef (32.9 per cent).
