Promising two-year-old Asadna moved from George Boughey to Alice Haynes

An owner merely exercising the might of money. I remember another owner did the same and forwent an ARC winner as such ie Postponed.

The owner sent Asadna to Boughey. The owner sent Asadna to Haynes. Why is one action wrong and the other right?

It would be great to have a decent explanation though - I don't like Boughey (as a punter)

Explanation: Horse was disappointing at big meeting, owner throws his rattle out of his pram.

Thanks George

You win some, you lose some!

Hoss wins a tinpot C4 race on dayboo albeit by 12 lengths but heyho it was still a C4 race at Ripon.

Owner possibly blinded Haynes' 8 from 24 Juvenile success [on turf] for 2023.

Somewhat ironically though, she had her best juvenile Maximum Impact [winner of its first two starts] go off as the 7/2 2nd fav for the 5F Windsor castle at RA.
It finished stone last, beaten 31 lengths.


Knee-jerk reaction from an impatient owner. Let's see how it goes from 'ere

How much do they charge in training fees ?

Had 6 rnrs @ R Ascot,5th Plce was the best he got.
What about Cadillac,that won well @ Epsom, then15/16 last week.
That still with Boughey?

The yound son does all the talking so this may be a project to set him up in horse racing - son reckons he wants to send horses all over the world.

Paid 175K for man of the night to run in UK h'caps off 92 and then move to Saudi.
couldn't win a C3 race before disappearing off the radar.
Is the son picking these mules out of Taterstalls catalogues while he's having a break away from his playstation

PREMIUM
'I was angry and took the horses' - owner hits out at George Boughey after moving Coventry flop Asadna
Sheikh
Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah: owner of Asadna
Owner Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah said a lack of honesty and trust was the reason behind his decision to move his string of horses – including the promising Asadna – from Newmarket trainer George Boughey.

An electric winner on his debut at Ripon last month, Asadna was fancied for the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot last week, but could finish only ninth.

That effort formed part of a frustrating week for the owner and Boughey as Danger Alert was prevented from running in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes on vet's advice, while Al Dasim was unable to take his place in the Commonwealth Cup.

Cadillac did line up in the Wolferton, but was a disappointing 15th of 16 and on Monday news emerged that Sheikh Abdullah, a member of the Kuwaiti royal family, had taken his string of horses away from Boughey, with Asadna and Danger Alert joining Alice Haynes.

'I want people to know the truth'

Explaining the decision, the sheikh told the Racing Post: "I've been an owner in my country and Saudi Arabia for 35 years and I respect George's facilities, but I told him not to run Asadna as the horse had hurt himself at home before the race.

"Asadna is a champion and I was angry and took the horses. I told him not to run, but he told me not to worry and he finished ninth.

"I've paid my bills and thanked him and everything is okay, but one hour before the Commonwealth Cup declarations he called me and said Al Dasim was lame.

"The vets at Royal Ascot said Danger Alert couldn't run and I wondered what was going on. I spend millions of pounds on horses every year and, if I lose, I'm not angry or upset, but it's very important there is honesty between the owner and trainer."

Sheikh Abdullah, who last year took more than 20 horses away from Kevin Philippart de Foy, had his first runners in Britain in 2012 and has gradually increased his string, having 129 runners in the 2018 campaign.

He added: "I had a box with my family at Royal Ascot and paid more than £100,000 to enjoy the meeting with my family and friends, but Asadna had problems, Al Dasim didn't run and Danger Alert couldn't – it's a bad situation.

"I came to Britain when I was two years old and I have many business interests here, but I need honesty from people – that's all.

"I want people to know the truth. They think I take horses away because I lose, but that's not the situation."

George Boughey: will be represented by Al Dasim in Saturday's Al Quoz Sprint
George Boughey: Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah has removed horses from his yard
Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)
Responding to the claims, Boughey said in a statement to the Racing Post: "I am very grateful to Sheikh Abdullah for the opportunity to train for him. We have enjoyed some fantastic success together with Al Dasim winning five races, including three in Dubai; Cadillac, who won a £50,000 handicap on Derby day at Epsom; and Danger Alert, who won at Chester's May festival.

"Asadna sustained a cut on his shoulder on Friday morning before Royal Ascot and I immediately notified the BHA vets as well as my own vet. He did not miss a day of work and was at no point lame.

"The BHA was sent step-by-step reports including regular photos of the cut and videos of the horse trotting up sound as well as the horse cantering prior to declarations on the Sunday, hence why the horse was passed fit to run. He was also subject to the usual on-course pre-race BHA veterinary checks at Ascot."

Boughey, who became a Classic-winning trainer last year when Cachet landed the 1,000 Guineas, added: "All the team here at Saffron House, especially me, were so disappointed that Al Dasim couldn't run in the Commonwealth Cup and that Danger Alert was withdrawn at the start of the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes.

"I would like to wish Sheikh Abdullah and his family the best of luck moving forward."

A spokesperson for the BHA added: "Before competing at Royal Ascot every horse was given a thorough assessment by BHA vets. This includes the horse being trotted up, a heart examination and a thorough physical check of limbs and body."

and the moral of the story is....never trust an ....

the sooner their oil runs out the better.

Well swifty, at least you can take comfort in the fact that every trainer, agent, sales company and everybody else in racing fleeces them for every penny they can get. The only time anyone gives them any time is when they are getting money out of them and the minute their backs are turned they are treated with contempt and wouldn't be welcome to walk most peoples dog.

Didnt Sir Henry & Sheik Mohammed split over a horse that had been injured.??

Mark Of Esteem

these trainers are fine when things are going well and he gets plenty of owners but its a bumpy ride down but i like him i havent noticed he is following easterby and johnstons way of training yet

Based on limited eveidence, I suspect the owner's version is nearer the truth than the trainer (ex-trainer)

Cheers Penzance.

Well if he followed Johnston's way of training he may have kept the horse know all.

shoodacoodadidnt 28 Jun 23 08:17 
Based on limited eveidence, I suspect the owner's version is nearer the truth than the trainer (ex-trainer)

Let's have a look at it then...

"Owner Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah said a lack of honesty and trust was the reason behind his decision to move his string of horses"

That's quite a damning statement and a slur on Boughey's reputation, imo

Explaining the decision, the sheikh told the Racing Post: "I've been an owner in my country and Saudi Arabia for 35 years and I respect George's facilities, but I told him not to run Asadna as the horse had hurt himself at home before the race.

"Asadna is a champion and I was angry and took the horses. I told him not to run, but he told me not to worry and he finished ninth.

But there are two sides to every story...And Boughey responded:

"Asadna sustained a cut on his shoulder on Friday morning before Royal Ascot and I immediately notified the BHA vets as well as my own vet. He did not miss a day of work and was at no point lame.

"The BHA was sent step-by-step reports including regular photos of the cut and videos of the horse trotting up sound as well as the horse cantering prior to declarations on the Sunday, hence why the horse was passed fit to run. He was also subject to the usual on-course pre-race BHA veterinary checks at Ascot."

Boughey comes out of that rather well imo.

Does he come out well? By his own account, Boughey makes no claim to keeping the owner (and/or his racing manager) informed as to Asadna's progress.

The man who pays the piper calls the tune.

He was told not to run it. If that's true it's an action of gross misconduct. He is the employed and not the employer.

if the owner didn't want to the horse should have been withdrawn and the owner paid whatever penalty was imposed on him

Maybe a 'brave' racing journalist will ask Boughey directly:

"Were you ordered by the owner not to run the horse?"

But as things stand, we don't have a transcript of the conversation regarding Asadna's participation.

And btw guys, is this the same owner who (spitefully?) took his horses away from a promising young trainer when said trainer politely declined his request to be his private trainer?

If so, fair to say then that the owner has a bit of 'previous'?

We have his word and no denial. If an owner wants a private trainer that's up to him. More trainers have made money from this guy than lost money.

Spot on George. I have no idea exactly what has happened here - but the owner does not represent the kind of basket one would want to put all of one's eggs into imo!

We can only imagine how badly that could have ended for Kevin Philippart De Foy.

He tells his owners (yeah, the ones who gave him the horses to train that helped him build his reputation)...

Sorry guys, but some moneybags Sheikh has offered me a private retainer, which I've accepted, so would you mind moving your horses on elsewhere, thanks awfully!

Royal Ascot arrives, things don't go well, owner cancels the retainer and moves his horses on.

De Foy is left with no horses and no owners.

The moral of the story?

Never put all your eggs in one basket?

Eggzactly, TM.

Well that's great if you have other baskets to put your eggs in.

It's like on Betfair. Betfair is judge and jury, and could throw the book at you should they so wish eg restrict/close your account; suspend a market because of their incompetence setting it up; etc.

Never ever put all of one's eggs in one basket; the carpet pulled, one would be "deaded". Sir Cecil, Sir Stoute, Mr Cumani never allowed themselves in that position regardless. On the other hand Tom Dascombe; Appleby and Bin Suroor are exceptions.

Logical as always impossible but completely wrong at the same time!!

I'm sure you know best 'CagliariG'. But, diversification has always worked for me in business.

You mentioned Luca and HRA.who never had all their eggs in one basket but still suffered?

There's an article behind the paywall on RP site.
Indicating that it's the punters who are left in the dark on these occasions.
The owner and trainer have had their differences over the 'cut' but bugger all is relayed to the punters who are parting with their cash.

Asadna row uncovers an awful look for racing as punters are kept in the dark yet again
author image
Chris Cook
Senior reporter
River Tiber (Ryan Moore) gets his nose in front to win the Coventry
Asadna (green cap and sleeves) ran disappointingly in last week's Coventry Stakes
Credit: Mark Cranham
There's a pithy little aphorism one sometimes stumbles across on the internet – I'm afraid I can't be sure who said it first – and it came to mind this week when it turned out a well-beaten horse in a major race had been recovering from an injury: "You can never make the same mistake twice because the second time it's not a mistake, it's a choice."

How many times have we been in this kind of situation, where knowledge of a high-profile horse's setback is confined for a time, so that the sport's loyal supporters are left to bet in ignorance? Stop counting when you run out of fingers.

Asadna is at the heart of it on this occasion. Evidently, he "sustained a cut on his shoulder" on the Friday before Ascot, four days before he was due to take part in the Coventry Stakes, for which he was favourite at the time. He started at 7-2, second in the betting, but was in trouble soon after halfway and finished ninth of 20.

Did the injury affect his performance? It's so hard to know with a juvenile having just his second outing. George Boughey, who trained him for the race, appears to think it was a non-factor. "He did not miss a day of work and was at no point lame," Boughey says.

But then Boughey is not a completely disinterested witness. The horse's injury and defeat are at the heart of a contretemps between him and Asadna's owner, Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah, who has taken his horses elsewhere.

Boughey didn't go public about the injury before the race, but he did tell the sport's ruling body. "The BHA was sent step-by-step reports," he said this week, "including regular photos of the cut and videos of the horse trotting up sound, as well as the horse cantering prior to declarations on the Sunday, hence why the horse was passed fit to run."

George Boughey
George Boughey: sought clarification that Asadna would be fit to race
Credit: Laura Green
Those last nine words appear to explain Boughey's motivation in so diligently keeping the BHA up to speed. The obvious inference is that, if the fact of the injury had come as a surprise to the BHA's vets at Ascot, they might have stopped Asadna taking part.

Anyway, they passed him fit and that, for me, is the key detail. If I'd backed Asadna, I'd be telling myself that I simply made a bad choice. On the available evidence, he was beaten because he wasn't good enough. The shoulder cut probably did not make six lengths of difference if any.

But I'm not every punter. And there is no law that requires all punters to be as meek and biddable as me. Some Asadna backers will be enraged by this turn of events, others will be saddened. Many will be asking themselves whether they might have made a different decision had all the facts been available to them. Many will be feeling that the sport has let them down.

Why didn't the BHA immediately share details of the injury with the public? If a trainer wants to gain themselves some reassurance of being able to run in these circumstances, fair enough, but I can't see why that should come with any promise of secrecy.

The BHA thinks otherwise. I'm told that confidentiality is the policy whenever it is made aware of veterinary issues about particular horses. "It is not for the BHA to put information into the public domain relating to a horse’s condition," a spokesperson added. "This is the responsibility of the trainer as they see fit."

But look where that policy has brought us. Those who lost on Asadna are suddenly aware that the ruling body knew more about the horse than they did.

It is a deeply unattractive situation. Some of us, after all our years spent kicking around the great game, may understand that no-one was seeking to take advantage and that the reason this has happened is because the BHA is instinctively a keeper of secrets, but relative newcomers or more casual fans are naturally at risk of forming a more cynical conclusion. Their horse had been injured and now it seems many others were aware, in a sport part-funded by bookmaker profits.

The BHA should be doing everything it can to avoid such embarrassments. Hopefully it's not thinking: "This would all have been fine if the owner hadn't caused such a row." Leaks happen. The best way forward is to have fewer secrets.

There is a counter-argument, for which I have no time. It runs like this: if the BHA publish negative information about a horse which then wins, it will get pelters for putting people away. So it can't win; it should just do nothing (and officials love a reason to do nothing).

In reality, though, no-one is mistaking the BHA for a tipping service. To share a piece of information is not the same thing as seizing all punters by the lapels and yelling in their frightened faces: "This changes everything!"

Let's turn that policy around and make it this: if you share price-sensitive information about your horse with the BHA, the default position should be that it is then shared with the public. Just get it out there. What people make of it is up to them.

Openness good, secrecy bad. Let's all say it to the mirror every morning and see if we can get better at it. Then maybe we won't keep repeating the "mistake" of hiding information from our audience.

Any injury even a minute one ought to be reported by trainer to BHA, and shared with the public. Then it's up to the punters whether to back the horse or not in the race. As for Asadna in the Coventry Stakes I'd not have backed him if I'd known he had a cut on his shoulder.