Eshaada (foaled 5 May 2018) is a British Thoroughbred

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

. After winning her only start as a juvenile in 2020 she showed high class form over middle and long distances in the following year, winning the

Fillies' Trial Stakes The Fillies' Trial Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs () at Newbury in May. History The ...

and running second in the Ribblesdale Stakes before taking the Group 1

British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes The British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to Filly, fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is ...

Background

Eshaada is a bay filly with no white markings bred in England by

Shadwell Estate Shadwell Racing is the Thoroughbred horse racing operations of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Introduced to Thoroughbred flat racing while a student in the United Kingdom, Sheikh Hamdan estab ...

, the breeding operation of her owner

Hamdan Al Maktoum Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, حمدان بن راشد أل مكتوم, '; 25 December 1945 – 24 March 2021) was an Emirati politician, the deputy ruler of Dubai and the minister of finance and industry of the United Arab Emirates ...

. She was sent into training with

Roger Varian Roger Varian is a British Thoroughbred racehorse trainer, based at Carlburg Stables in Newmarket, Suffolk. Riding career Varian moved to the United States as a teenager and found employment as a work rider at Hollywood Park. On his return to t ...

Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Located (14 miles) west of Bury St Edmunds and (14 miles) northeast of Cambridge. It is considered the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred hor ...

. In her first two seasons she was ridden by

Jim Crowley James Harold "Sleepy Jim" Crowley (September 10, 1902 – January 15, 1986) was an American football player and coach. He gained fame as one-fourth of the University of Notre Dame's legendary "Four Horsemen (American football), Four Horsemen" bac ...

. She was from the second crop of foals sired by

Muhaarar Muhaarar (foaled 25 February 2012) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse. As a two-year-old he showed very good form, winning the Gimcrack Stakes and finishing third in both the July Stakes and the Middle Park Stakes. He began his three-year-old c ...

, an outstanding sprinter who won the

Commonwealth Cup A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

July Cup The July Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres ...

Prix Maurice de Gheest The Prix Maurice de Gheest is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,300 metres (about 6½ furlongs), and it is sched ...

and

British Champions Sprint Stakes The British Champions Sprint Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is ...

. Eshaada's dam Muhawalah showed modest racing ability, winning one minor race from six starts, but was a full-sister to

Tamayuz Tamayuz (foaled 1 March 2005) is a British-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He won both of his races as a two-year-old in 2007 and took the Prix de Fontainebleau on his first run of 2008. After running poorly in the Poule d' ...

. Muhawalah's dam Al Ishq was a half-sister to Anabaa Blue and a granddaughter of the great British broodmare Allegretta, meaning that she was closely related to Urban Sea, King's Best,

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

and Sea the Stars.

Racing career

2020: two-year-old season

On her first and only appearance as a two-year-old Eshaada started at odds of 9/2 over eight and a half furlongs on soft ground at

Nottingham Racecourse Nottingham Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It is situated at Colwick Park, close to the River Trent and about 3 km east of the city centre. Characteristics There are actually ...

on 4 November. After tracking the leaders she made steady progress in the last quarter mile, overtook the front-running Quenelle d'Or in the closing stages and won by a neck.

2021: three-year-old season

Hamdan Al Maktoum died in March 2021 and Eshaada's ownership reverted to the Shadwell Estate. The filly began her second campaign in the Listed

over ten furlongs at Newbury Racecourse on 15 May and started an 18/1 outsider in a nine-runner field. She raced towards the rear of the field before staying on strongly in the last half mile, taking the lead inside the final furlong and winning by a neck from Gloria Mundi. Eshaada was moved up in class again to contest the

Group 2 The term Group 2 may refer to: * Alkaline earth metal, a chemical element classification * Astronaut Group 2, also known as The New Nine, the second group of astronauts selected by NASA in 1962 * Group 2 (racing), an FIA classification for cars in a ...

Ribblesdale Stakes over one and a half miles at

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...

on 17 June. Starting at odds of 17/2 in a thirteen-runner field she came from well off the pace to make good progress in the straight and finished second to Loving Dream, beaten three quarters of a

length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...

by the winner. At

York Racecourse York Racecourse is a horse racing venue in York, North Yorkshire, England. It is the third biggest racecourse in Britain in terms of total prize money offered, and second behind Ascot Racecourse, Ascot in prize money offered per meeting. It att ...

in August she stepped up to Group 1 class for the

Yorkshire Oaks The Yorkshire Oaks is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile 3 fu ...

but was never in serious contention and finished last of the seven runners, more than thirtyy-six lengths by the winner

Snowfall Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

. On her final run of the season, Eshaada started a 16/1 outsider for the Group 1

over one and a half miles on good to soft ground at Ascot on 16 October. Snowfall started the 8/11 favourite while the other six runners were Albaflora (second in the Yorkshire Oaks), Invite (

Stand Cup The Stand Cup is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Chester over a distance of 1 mile 4 furlongs and 63 yards (2,472 metres), and it is scheduled to take place eac ...

), Tribal Craft ( Brontë Cup), La Joconde (third in the Prix Vermeille), Mystery Angel ( Pretty Polly Stakes) and Lady Hayes. After tracking the leaders La Joconde and Mystery Angel Eshaada took the lead two furlongs out and held off a sustained challenge from Albaflora to win by a short head with a gap of three and a half lengths back to Snowfall in third place. After the race Roger Varian commented "Her only poor performance was at York and the Ribblesdale form worked out very well. She loves cut in the ground, she's got track form, and has always looked a class filly. After York we discussed what we'd do. There were options between York and this race but we said: 'Let's wait'. She likes cut in the ground, so it was a team decision made in the immediate aftermath of the York race and it's always nice when a plan comes together."

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 2018 racehorse births Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 9-h