The often repeated saying from “Star Wars”: “May the Force be with you” has been paraphrased oh so many times in everyday situations, so without further ado I shall allow myself to say that the Force at the beginning of the 2024 racing season in Poland is primarily strong with Cornelia Fraisl’s ward, the five-year-young Storm ‘OA’, bred and owned by R.A.G. Kolk van Meerveld from the Netherlands. Unexpectedly, he won in a peerless fashion two category B races: the Comet Stakes over the distance of 2000 metres, and the Bandos Stakes over the distance of 2200 m.

After last season, when he was still a stallion (he was gelded in winter), Storm ‘OA’ took sixth place in the general handicap (81.5 kg), with a slight loss to the ranking leader, Ocean Al Maury (83.5 kg). As a four-year-old, he celebrated one prestigious victory in Wrocław – the President Cup Mondial Europe 2023, (cat. A, 1907 metres). As a stallion, Storm ‘OA’ had an explosive temperament and would push forward as fast he could – it was close to impossible to stop him. Let me give you an example: in Traf Warsaw Mile he raced like a thoroughbred. All this changed when he became a gelding.

Already during the Comet Stakes on 28th April, his jockey Dastan Sabatbekov chose to start slowly at the end of the group. With 300 metres left to the finish line, he was fifth. The ending of the race was absolutely brilliant… as if launched from a catapult. He won by three lengths ahead of the Polish-bred Almared, who immensely surprised the crowds anyway, having defeated the great French-bred Rasmy Al Khalediah by 0.75 lengths. He, in turn, overtook the Derby winner from four years ago, Wielki Dakris, by the same amount, who showed good form at the beginning of the season.

Two French horses trained by Maciej Kacprzyk failed egregiously, especially the afore-mentioned Ocean Al Maury, the favourite of this race, who was merely sixth. Salsabil II, the track record holder for 1400 (1’31.6″) and 1600 m (1’45.5″) was strongly in the lead (second quarter 32.6, third quarter 33.6), so it was no surprise when he gave in to the unbearable speed. The race time is quite noteworthy too – 2’15.3″, and so were the winnings at the racetrack…

COMET STAKES

1. Storm ‘OA’ (NL), jockey D.Sabatbekov (63.0)
2. Almared, jockey S.Mura (59.0)
3. Rasmy Al Khalediah (FR), jockey B.Kalysbek Uulu (63.0)
4. Wielki Dakris, jockey K.Dogdurbek Uulu (59.0)
5. Sharm El Sheikh (FR), jockey T.Kumarbek Uulu (62.0)
6. Ocean Al Maury (FR), jockey M.Srnec (63.0)
7. Salsabil II (FR), jockey S.Abaev (63.0)
8. Ben Mark, jockey K.Grzybowski (62.0)
Withdrawn: Wasmy Al Khalediah (FR), jockey A.Reznikov (63.0)

Ocean Al Maury’s failed rematch

Less than four weeks later, the rematch took place in the form of the Bandos Stakes, over a distance of 200 metres more, for the Cup of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Considering the previous race, their two major rivals were missing: Rasmy Al Khaledia and Salsabil II. Track conditions also changed. The track during the Comet Stakes was slightly flexible (3.2), while this time it was flexible (3.4). This nuance could have been important, because Storm ‘OA’ carried extra weight (65 kg), and Ocean Al Maury had 2 kg less.

Trainer Maciej Kacprzyk also saw here a chance for his pupil’s success. Especially since he got into a much better shape in the meantime compared to his first start. However, he must’ve realised that he couldn’t leave the Bandos Stakes to fate. This meant that Ocean Al Maury had to dominate from the race from the start. That’s why he signed up the best Polish jockey, Szczepan Mazur. After a magnificent season in Qatar, he might not have had any good wins at Służewiec thus far, but only because he haven’t had the chance to ride the top horses yet. Ocean Al Maury was the first worthy candidate.

The popular “Szczepcio” raced as quickly he could (the first full quarter 32.5, the second 33.5, the remaining two 34.2-34.4), but to no avail. In this thrilling race, Storm ‘OA’, after a short fight, defeated Ocean Al Maury, winning easily by 3 lengths. Wielki Dakris might’ve performed bravely both in the distance and in the finish, but he was no match for Ocean, who confidently finished second, losing 3.5 lengths to the runner-up. The giants shall clash again on 30th June at the Ofir Stakes (cat. A, 2400 m).

BANDOS STAKES

1. Storm ‘OA’ (NL), jockey D.Sabatbekov (65.0)
2. Ocean Al Maury (FR), jockey S.Mazur (63.0)
3. Wielki Dakris, jockey K.Dogdurbek Uulu (59.0)
4. Almared, jockey S.Mura (59.0)
5. Lindahl’s Avatar (DK), jockey K.Grzybowski (59.0)
6. Gensik (FR), jockey A.Turgaev (63.0)
7. Harun RA, jockey M.Zholchubekov (59.0)
8. Ben Mark, jockey S.Abaev (62.0)

Bad Guy Pompadour – lone wolf of the Stanisław Sałagaj Memorial

In the race dedicated to the memory of the great jockey and outstanding trainer Stanisław Sałagaj (six-time Trainer of the Year according to the editors of “Życie Warszawy”), the French-bred Bad Guy Pompadour, trained by Maciej Kacprzyk, turned out to be without equal and simply beyond compare. He won very easily by 7 lengths ahead of two Polish-bred stallions Maximus and Fragnar, and the French-bred mare Aisha Al Shahania, who were fighting for the next three paid places and reached the finish line in this very order.

What the future holds

Unfortunately, it remains unknown when the special races for three-year-olds will start, chiefly from Janów Podlaski Stud and Michałów Stud, and from Białka Stud and private breeders to a smaller extent. There’s approx. 70 horses that qualify, and last season these races were held under the patronage of the National Support Centre for Agriculture (KOWR), a Polish governmental agency, supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Allegedly, they will be continued this season too, but the details are still debated on. The horses are already prepared for their debut and cannot remain in stables indefinitely, so they are entered into open races or PASB races, even though they have little chance of winning.

So it is no surprise that as many as 15 Polish horses were entered in one of the two races for three-year-olds to take place on Thursday in Partynice (apparently the owners and trainers agreed on this), including 11 from Michałów! In the other race, seven domestic-bred and four foreign-bred Arabians (with intriguing pedigrees) will participate, and they will most likely race against each other. What the future holds? We’ll just have to wait and see…