'I wasn't expecting him to make them look like they were standing still' - Mostahdaf dazzles in Prince of Wales's Stakes

The first ten races of the 2023 royal meeting had produced their usual share of tight finishes and well-backed winners. With an honourable mention to Paddington and Vauban on Tuesday, it had not, before the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, produced a performance that genuinely took the collective breath away. 

Sent off at 10-1 in a field stacked with established quality including a Derby hero and a Champion Stakes winner, Mostahdaf was the one to produce audible gasps as he burst clear of his rivals to stamp himself a genuine elite performer over ten furlongs. 

The clues have been there in a number of his performances, although two runs at a mile and a half and a deluge in Paris had arguably helped mask the level of his talent.

Even the man who knows Mostahdaf better than anyone, joint-trainer John Gosden, admitted to surprise at quite how emphatically the son of Frankel took the race out of the reach of Luxembourg and Adayar. 

Mostahdaf and Jim Crowley win the Prince of Wales's Stakes from LuxembourgCredit: Edward Whitaker

“I was expecting him to pick up well in the straight but not make them look like they were standing still,” said Gosden. “He did it in Riyadh. He won the Neom Cup in that style; he just flew away and when the ground dries up he’s a brilliant horse. The amount he quickened past the others on that ground did surprise me but the fact that he loved the ground and was in top form [didn’t].”

After his barnstorming performance in Saudi Arabia, it was entirely natural Mostahdaf should run on Dubai World Cup night in front of Shadwell principal Sheikha Hissa. But on top of a trip that stretches his own brilliance, he faced the horse who is 5lb clear of every other thoroughbred on the planet, the Japanese phenomenon that is Equinox. 

“We were going to run him in the Brigadier Gerard but he hadn’t quite recovered from his Middle Eastern campaign,” said Gosden. “And if you check the formbook, he took on a certain Japanese horse in the Sheema Classic, and a mile and a half is beyond him, he’s a mile and a quarter horse. But he was the one that put it up to them and gave it his best go.”

Asked where Mostahdaf would go next, Gosden gave the clearest indication of just how much pleasure this victory – with Sheikha Hissa once again in attendance – had given him. 

He said: “What’s the plan? That might have been the plan.”

Jim Crowley riding Mostahdaf (centre) to win the Prince of Wales's StakesCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Jim Crowley hadn’t hidden his belief in Mostahdaf after the Neom Cup, albeit that was a Group 3, and he was also firmly of the opinion putting it up to Equinox had cost him in the Sheema Classic. 

“He’s a bit of a handful in the preliminaries but once he gets his mind on the job, he’s a class horse,” said Crowley. "We saw that in Saudi. He probably didn’t quite get home in Dubai against Equinox. I tried to chase him down that day and sort of cut my own throat in doing so.

"But coming back to a mile and a quarter was the key. The horse was so well before and I knew he was in great form. It’s a great race to win.

"They do an amazing job with him. I think he’d come back from Dubai a bit quiet and probably that trip to Saudi and Dubai probably took more out of him than expected. They’ve waited with him, been patient, targeted this race and it’s come to fruition."

There had looked to be a glut of older talent at ten furlongs at the start of the year but, at the midpoint of the summer, Mostahdaf has forced a reshuffle in that particular pack. 

He covered the two furlongs from the entrance to the home straight to the furlong pole in 23.43 seconds and, if the sun continues to shine this European summer, he will take some catching. 

Gosden seemed to put a line through a quick turnaround for the Eclipse and is likely to wait for the Juddmonte International at York.

A year on from Baaeed, Sheikha Hissa now has another wonderful reason to return to the Knavesmire. 

Racing Post Ratings: Mostahdaf clocks new career best and ranks alongside best Prince of Wales's winners

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