Expensive four year old Mogul is set to now have a short break and reappear in June for Royal Ascot after he gave a less than impressive showing at Meydan on Saturday in the Group One Dubai Sheema Classic.
Mogul was a bright juvenile landing two contests including the Group Two Champions Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown and then finishing a decent fourth in the Group One Vertem Futurity Stakes at Newcastle.
A mile and a half or further looked to be the prerogative for this colt and having finished fourth in the Group Two King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.
He went to Epsom after that for the Derby and although finishing sixth it was a fair run in a race that well and truly did not go to plan for the big hitters.
The four year old finally showed his potential at Goodwood when taking the Group Three Gordon Stakes, but could not back that up at York in the Great Voltigeur when only third of eight.
His best run of the season came on his penultimate start when landing the Group Grand Prix de Paris and although giving a less than impressive display in the Breeders' Cup turf that was more down to how he handled the track.
Class! Mogul wins the Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Vase for Ryan Moore and Aidan O'Brien! #HKIR pic.twitter.com/RPkxO6w246
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) December 13, 2020
The Ballydoyle team wanted to keep him on the jet-setting path and in December he was sent to Sha Tin for the Group One Hong Kong Vase and he landed it in fine style.
With all of these runs in his roster, on Saturday he was a well backed favourite for the Sheema Classic, but unfortunately it seems the lay off went against him with him only beating two home.
O’Brien said: “Mogul ran well. He hadn’t run since December and for him that is a long time. He’s a horse that progresses with his racing and we think he will progress a lot.
“I think he won’t mind coming back in distance either. He’ll have no problem coming back to a mile and a quarter and don’t rule him out going back to a mile. He’s a very strong traveller.
“There is not much for him until Ascot and we don’t want to run him on soft ground. There is the Tattersalls (Gold Cup), but the ground can be slow there and there is every chance that he won’t appear again until Ascot.
“Hopefully he will have a full season after that.”