The speedy Shadwell Stud-owned, Faatinah, might well have booked a trip to the United Arab Emirates in 2017 following his emphatic victory in Saturday’s Group Two Bobbie Lewis Quality at Flemington.
Evidently Faatinah is Arabic for captivating, alluring, enchanting and fascinating and he was all that in the Bobbie Lewis, taking a handy lead down the straight six before really putting his stamp on the contest over the final 50m.
Trainer David Hayes was clearly pleased with the effort and said it could be time to “show him off to the boss”.
Faatinah has now won four of his nine starts and Saturday’s victory was his second at black type level after snaring the Group Two Euclase Stakes at Morphettville in May.
“He (Faatinah) is a proven straight track horse and they are a rare commodity. I think he’s got the same ability as his sire (Nicconi) and he won at Group One level. In fact, we’ll probably follow a similar path to that of Nicconi … he’ll be back at Flemington for a race on Turnbull Stakes day and then the sprint on Derby Day.
“All things being equal, if he goes well in those races I’d love to take him to Dubai next year.”
Faatinah is out of Shadwell’s Danehill mare, Alqwah, who has produced four winners from five to race including the multiple stakes placed Jalsah.
As with all of Shadwell’s Australian-breds, Faatinah was foaled and raised at Yarraman Park in the Hunter Valley.
“That was a tremendous win by Faatinah on Saturday,” Yarraman Park’s Arthur Mitchell was quick to point out. “Shadwell has invested heavily in the Australian industry over the years and we have around 25 of their mares at Yarraman.
“Most of them are walked onto Darley but a number of them also go to other farms.
“Yarraman has been associated with Shadwell for close to 20 years and interestingly, while a number of the locally-bred horses go to David Hayes (Faatinah and Moqla were both stakes winners on the same Adelaide program earlier this year), Shadwell has also been hugely successful with their Australian-bred horses that have gone on to race in South Africa … horses like Ertijaal (Group One Kenilworth Cape Derby) and Mushreq.”
Dual Group One winner, Nicconi, was a popular addition to the Widden Stud ranks in 2010 and has covered over 760 mares in his six seasons since retiring from the track. Faatinah is one of seven stakes winners for the Bianconi stallion which also includes fellow Group Two winners Chill Party and Nicoscene.
Widden’s Marketing & Stallion Nominations Manager, Ryan McEvoy, also has his fingers crossed that Faatinah heads to Dubai in the autumn and gets the chance to showcase Nicconi on a global stage: “Nicconi’s oldest are only 5YOs and he’s already had winners in seven countries. Nicconis sold up to $225,000 this year and apart from Faatinah’s Group win, he had a winner in Sydney (Quatronic) and a winner in Perth (Miss Iconic) on Saturday as well, a double on the Friday and a winner on Thursday.
“Not surprisingly, he’s again very popular and will cover a full book of mares this spring.”
