Tawkeel
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Tawkeel (foaled 29 January 2017) is a British-bred, French-trained
Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...
racehorse. She was unraced as a two-year-old in 2019, but in the following season she won her first five races including with a victory in the
Prix Saint-Alary The Prix Saint-Alary is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Longchamp in Paris over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1 miles), and take ...
and the
Prix de la Nonette The Prix de la Nonette is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles), and it is scheduled t ...
.


Background

Tawkeel is a bay filly with a white
star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...
bred in England by her owner,
Hamdan Al Maktoum Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum (, '; 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 (UAE). He was the second son of the late rule ...
's Shadwell Estate Co Ltd. She was sent into training with
Jean-Claude Rouget Jean-Claude Rouget (born 1953 in Normandy) is a French Thoroughbred horse trainer and former jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The wor ...
at Pau. She was from the ninth crop of foals sired by the Teofilo the undefeated European Champion Two-Year-Old of 2006. Teofilo's other European offspring have included
Cross Counter Cross Counter (foaled 5 April 2015) is a Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2018 Melbourne Cup. After winning two minor races he was gelded before returning in the summer of 2018 to win two more races including the Gordon Stake ...
,
Trading Leather Trading Leather (20 March 2010 – 30 November 2014) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2013 Irish Derby. The horse died following an injury sustained in the 2014 Japan Cup. Background Trading Leather was a dark ...
,
Pleascach Pleascach (foaled 6 February 2012) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse whose wins included the Irish 1000 Guineas and the Yorkshire Oaks. Bred and trained by Jim Bolger (racehorse trainer), Jim Bolger she showed promise in two starts as a two-ye ...
and
Parish Hall A church hall or parish hall is a room or building associated with a church architecture, church, generally for community and Charitable organization, charitable use. In smaller and village communities, it is often a separate building near the ...
: he has also had great success in Australia where his major winners have included Happy Clapper, Humidor and Kermadec. Tawkeel was the first foal of her dam Rafaadah showed good racing form in France, winning two of her seven races including the Listed Grand Critérium de Bordeaux in October 2014. Rafaadah's dam Joanna was a high-class racemare whose wins included the
Prix du Calvados The Prix du Calvados is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,400 metres (about 7 furlongs) and it is scheduled to ...
,
Prix Imprudence The Prix Imprudence is a Conditions races, Group 3 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred Filly, fillies. It is run over a distance of 1,400&n ...
,
Prix de Sandringham The Prix de Sandringham is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and it is scheduled to take ...
and Prix de la Porte Maillot. She was descended from the French broodmare Almyre (foaled 1964) making her a female line relative of
Arcangues Arcangues (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France in what was formerly the Basque province of Labourd. Geography Location Arc ...
and
Cape Verdi Cape Verdi is a retired, Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. She was trained in England and Dubai during a racing career which consisted of eight races between May 1997 and July 1999. In 1998 she won the 1000 Guineas by five lengths and was the ...
.


Racing career


2020: three-year-old season

Tawkeel did not race as a juvenile and made her racecourse debut on 3 January when she started the 2.1/1 favourite for a
maiden race In horse racing, a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the s ...
over 1600 metres on the synthetic Fibresand surface at Pau. Ridden by Jean-Bernard Eyquem she raced in mid division before finishing strongly to take the lead inside the last 100 metres and win by one and a quarter lengths. Six weeks later she was partnered by Cristian Demuro (who rode her in all of her subsequent races that year) when she followed up in a minor event over the same distance on the
Polytrack The track surface of a horse racing track refers to the material of which the track is made. There are three types of track surfaces used in modern horse racing. These are: *Turf, the most common track surface in Europe *Dirt, the most common trac ...
at
Cagnes-sur-Mer Cagnes-sur-Mer (, literally ''Cagnes on Sea''; ) is a French Riviera town near Nice that is in the Alpes-Maritimes department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in southeastern France. Geography Cagnes-sur-Mer is a town in southeaste ...
, leading from the start and winning "easily" by four and a half lengths from Villa Royale. After a break of three months, necessitated by the suspension of racing in France owing to the
COVID-19 outbreak The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Soon after, ...
, the filly returned in the Prix de Lormoy over 1900 metres on Polytrack at
Deauville Racecourse Hippodrome Deauville-La Touques is a race track for thoroughbred horse racing located in Deauville in the Calvados département, in the Normandy ''région'' of France. Originally called Hippodrome de la Touques, it was named for the Touques River ...
in which she started 1/2 favourite. She settled towards the rear of the field before taking the lead 200 metres from the finish and winning by a head from Wangari, with a gap of ten lengths back to the other three runners. On 14 June Tawkeel made her turf debut when she was moved up sharply in class to contest the
Group 1 Group 1 may refer to: * Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal * Group 1 (motorsport), a regulation set of the FIA for series-production touring cars used in motorsport. * Group One Thoroughbred horse races, the leading e ...
Prix Saint-Alary, run that year a month later than usual at
Chantilly Racecourse Chantilly Racecourse (In French: "Hippodrome de Chantilly") is a Thoroughbred grass, turf race track, racecourse for flat racing in Chantilly, Oise, France, about north of the centre of the city of Paris. Chantilly Racecourse is located in the ...
. She started the 3.1/1 second favourite behind the
André Fabre André Fabre (; born 9 December 1945) is a French thoroughbred horse racing horse trainer, trainer. The son of a diplomat, Fabre graduated from university with a law degree but then decided to pursue a career in thoroughbred horse racing. He beg ...
-trained Solsticia in a seven-runner field which also included Magic Attitude (
Prix Vanteaux The Prix Vanteaux is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run over a distance of 1,850 metres (about 1 mile and 1¼ furlongs) at ...
) and Savarin (
Prix d'Aumale The Prix d'Aumale is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and it is scheduled to take pl ...
). Demuro settled his filly behind the leaders as Again Music and Magic Attitude set the pace before switching to the outside to make a challenge in the straight. Tawkeel gained the advantage approaching the last 200 metres and pulled away to win by five lengths and a head from Magic Attitude and Solsticia. After the Demuro said "I loved the way she picked up in two strides, I almost felt we were going too fast at the finish. I adore that turn of foot she has." After a break of over two months, Tawkeel returned in the Prix de la Nonette over 2000 metres at Deauville on 22 August and started the odds on favourite against six opponents headed by the
Oaks d'Italia The Oaks d'Italia is a Group 2 flat horse race in Italy open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Milan over a distance of 2,200 metres (about 1 mile and 3 furlongs), and it is scheduled to take place each year in May or June. It ...
winner Auyantepui. She raced in second place behind the British challenger Frankel's Storm before taking the lead approaching the last 200 metres and held off the persistent challenge of Tickle Me Green to win by half a length. Rouget commented "Turning for home, it looked to me as though she was going to win as easily as she did in the Saint-Alary, but she had to fight. I felt it was the combination of two factors as she definitely needed the race and the ground was too soft for her. I didn’t want to be too hard on her in morning work at home and, anyway, at the end she won safely and the essential has been done." On 4 October at
Longchamp Racecourse The Longchamp Racecourse (, ) is a 57 hectare horse-racing facility located on the Route des Tribunes at the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is used for flat racing and is noted for ...
Tawkeel was matched against older fillies and mares in the Prix de l'Opera over 2000 metres. She went off the 3.1/1 second favourite and led for most of the way before being overtaken in the straight and sustained her first defeat as she came home fourth behind Tarnawa, Alpine Star and
Audarya Audarya (foaled 21 April 2016) is a French-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. After running second in her only start as a juvenile in 2018 she showed promising, but unremarkable form in the following year, winning two minor events and ...
.


Pedigree

*Tawkeel was
inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders an ...
3 × 4 to Sadler's Wells, meaning that this stallion appears in both the third and fourth generations of her pedigree. She was also inbred 3 × 4 to Danzig. Both Sadler's Wells and Danzig were sons of
Northern Dancer Northern Dancer (May 27, 1961 – November 16, 1990) was a Thoroughbred that, in 1964, became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. After being retired from racing, he became one of the most successful Stallion, sires of the 2 ...
.


References

{{Reflist


External links


Career 1-2-3 Colour Chart
– ''Tawkeel'' 2017 racehorse births Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in France Thoroughbred family 8-f