Alkaased

Alkaased began his racing career at Doncaster Racecourse on 11 September 2002 when he finished fourth behind the odd-on favourite Maghanim. In the following month he started favourite for a one-mile maiden race at Newmarket Racecourse and finished fourth of the sixteen runners behind Persian Majesty.[8]

Alkaased did not appear in 2003 until July, when he finished second in a maiden at Yarmouth. On 25 August he started the 1/8 favourite for a maiden race over one and a half miles at Ripon Racecourse. Ridden by Willie Supple, he recorded his first success, taking the lead half a mile from the finish and winning by four lengths despite being eased down in the closing stages.[9] In his two remaining races of the season, Alkaased finished second when carrying top weight in handicap races at Newmarket and Leicester.

At the end of October, Alkaased was sent to the Tattersalls Horses in Training sale where he was bought for 42,000 guineas by Foster Bloodstock.[10] The colt entered the ownership of the Monte Carlo-based businessman Michael Charlton.[11] and was transferred to the stable of Luca Cumani.

On his first appearance for his new connections, Alkaased finished second by a head to Wunderwood in a race over one and a half miles at Newmarket on 5 June. Four weeks later, the colt carried 127 pounds and started at odds of 7/1 for the Old Newton Cup, a one and a half mile handicap at Haydock Park Racecourse. Ridden by Jimmy Fortune, he took the lead a quarter of a mile from the finish and drew clear of his rivals to win by four lengths.[12] On 30 July, Alkaased was moved up in class to contest the Listed Glorious Stakes at Goodwood Racecourse and was made the 11/4 favourite against eight opponents. He took the lead approaching the final furlong and ran on strongly to win by a neck from the Stoute-trained First Charter.[13] Alkaased was moved up to Group race class for the first time when he contested the September Stakes at Kempton Park Racecourse. He started the 6/4 favourite, but was beaten half a length by the dual Group One winner Mamool, with Bandari in third place.

Alkaased recorded his first Group race win on his five-year-old debut at Newmarket on 1 May. Starting the 2/1 favourite, he won the Jockey Club Stakes, beating Gamut by one and a half lengths, with Bandari third and Warrsan fourth.[14] A month later, Alkaased moved up to Group One level for the first time and started favourite for the Coronation Cup at Epsom Downs Racecourse. He was restrained in last by Fortune in the early stages and by the time he moved into contention in the straight Yeats had already established a decisive lead. Alkaased finished second, beaten two and a half lengths by the Irish colt: Fortune never rode the horse again. Three weeks later, Alkaased raced outside the United Kingdom for the first time when he was sent to France to contest the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. Ridden by Frankie Dettori he started at odds of 6/1 in a field of eleven which included Yeats, Bago, and Elvstroem. Dettori held up Alkaased towards the back of the field before moving up on the inside rail to take second place entering the straight. He overtook the pacemaker Imago Mundi 300 metres from the finish and went clear to win by two lengths from Policy Maker, with Bago finishing third ahead of Elvstroem.[15] After the race, Luca Cumani said "We are already thinking about the Arc de Triomphe with a run before in the Prix Foy. We will have to think about the King George now and I will be speaking with the owner but he is a horse that must have good or firmer ground to show his best".[16]

As Cumani had suggested, Alkaased returned to France in September and started odds-on favourite of the Prix Foy at Longchamp, a major trial race for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Ridden by Kieren Fallon, he was held up as usual before making his challenge in the straight. He moved into second place 300 metres from the finish but was unable to make further progress and was beaten two and a half lengths by the mare Pride, with the German-bred Shirocco in third. Alkaased was brought back in distance for the Champion Stakes over ten furlongs at Newmarket and finished fifth of fifteen runners behind David Junior, Pride, Maraahel and Oratorio. The unplaced horses included Rakti, Chic and Alexander Goldrun.[17]

On 27 November, Alkaased was one of eighteen horses to contest the twenty-fifth running of the Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse. The other European runners included Ouija Board, Bago and Warrsan, whilst North America was represented the Breeders' Cup Turf winner Better Talk Now and the Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap winner King's Drama. The locally trained runners included the last two winners of the race Tap Dance City and Zenno Rob Roy, the Tenno Sho winners Heavenly Romance and Suzuka Mambo as well as the NAR champion Cosmo Bulk. Ridden by Dettori he started the 9.6/1 third choice in the betting for a race run on unusually firm ground. Alkaased lost ground at the start as Dettori, on instructions from Cumani, tracked across from a wide draw to race on the inside.[18] He raced in twelfth place before moving up to fifth place on the turn into the straight. Tap Dance City attempted to make all the running, as he had done in 2003 and was still four lengths clear with 400 metres to run but was overtaken by Alkaased and Zenno Rob Roy 200 metres from the finish. Alkaased gained the advantage and held off the late challenge of Heart's Cry on the inside to win by a nose, with Zenno Rob Roy one and three quarter lengths back in third ahead of Lincoln and Ouija Board.[19] The winning time of 2:22.1 was a new world record for 2400 metres on turf, bettering the mark set by Horlicks in the 1989 running of the race.[18] Dettori, who was winning the race for the third time said; "Alkaased is a great horse to ride. He can be lazy but he's a very tenacious, tough horse – he kept finding a little more". Mike Charlton admitted that when he bought the horse he had regarded him as just a good handicapper, saying; "I did think he would improve, but this was a million-to-one shot".[11]