Mishriff

Mishriff made his racecourse debut in a novice race (for horses with no more than two previous wins) over seven furlongs on heavy ground at Yarmouth Racecourse on 14 October in which he was ridden by Rob Havlin. Starting the 5/2 second favourite he started slowly before making steady progress in the latter stages to finish fourth of the ten runners behind Society Lion, beaten four lengths by the winner.[5] Frankie Dettori took the ride when Mishriff started 7/4 favourite for a similar event over one mile at Newbury Racecourse eleven days later and came home third behind Acquitted and Waleydd.[6] On his final start of the season the colt started 5/6 favourite for a maiden race over one mile at Nottingham Racecourse on 6 November. Ridden by David Egan he tracked the leaders before taking the lead two furlongs from the finish and pulled clear of his opponents to win "easily" by ten lengths.[7]

For his first run of 2020 Mishriff was sent to Saudi Arabia to contest the Saudi Derby over 1600 metres on dirt at Riyadh on 29 February. With Egan in the saddle he went off at odds of 16/1 and recovered from a poor start to finish second of the thirteen runners, two and a quarter lengths behind the Japanese-trained winner Full Flat.[8] The 2020 flat racing season in England and Ireland was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and Mishriff did not make his reappearance after his trip to Arabia until 6 June when he contested the Newmarket Stakes over ten furlongs at Newmarket Racecourse. He went off at odds of 10/1 and was regarded as the stable's second string behind the more highly regarded Waldkonig. After tracking the leaders in the early stages, Egan sent his mount into the lead three furlongs from the finish and Mishriff quickly opened up a clear advantage to win by four lengths from Volkan Star.[9] After the race Gosden commented "It is rather what I expected really. Mishriff had a run in Saudi Arabia and was a fitter horse. He enjoyed the ground and the trip, the track is perfect and he has been training well at home".[10]

On 5 July Mishriff was sent to France and started at odds of 7.5/1 for the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club over 2000 metres at Chantilly Racecourse. Owing to the quarantine restrictions, which meant that Egan would have been required to self-isolate after returning to Britain,[11] Gosden opted to employ the locally based jockey Ioritz Mendizabal who had previously won the race on Vision d'Etat in 2008. The other fifteen runners included Victor Ludorum, Gold Trip (Prix Greffulhe), Pao Alto (Prix La Force), The Summit (Prix de Fontainebleau), Ecrivain (Prix des Chênes), Chachnak (Prix de Guiche), Ocean Antlantique (Prix de Suresnes), Pisanello (Prix Omnium II) and Fort Myers (Star Appeal Stakes). After racing just behind the leaders Mishriff was switched to the outside to obtain a clear run in the straight. He produced a strong late charge to take the lead in the last 100 metres and won "readily" by one and three quarter lengths from The Summit.[12] Gosden commented "He's got a good attitude and I thought his last 100 meters were his best of the whole race... On pedigree you'd think he'd stay at this trip but he didn't look like he was stopping either" while Mendizabal said "I was told that he carries his head quite low and I just needed to gather him together halfway up the home straight, but when he picked up, he had it won in two strides... he must be a real crack."[13]

In August Mishriff returned to France for the Group 2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano over 2000 metres on heavy ground at Deauville Racecourse and started the odds-on favourite against three opponents namely Victor Ludorum, The Summit and Dream Works (winner of the Listed Prix Ridgway). Ridden by Dettori he took the lead 400 metres from the finish and drew away in the closing stages to win in "impressive" fashion by four and a half lengths.[14] Dettori commented "He's a horse that likes soft ground. He finished his race strong in the Jockey Club, so I said 'come and catch me if you can'... I made sure it was a true test and he came out on top. It's nice proving he is a very good horse... So far so good, he’s done nothing wrong."[15]

Mishriff ended his season in the Champion Stakes at Ascot Racecourse on 17 October. He started the 4/1 second choice in the betting but after tracking the leader he faded badly in the straight and came home eighth of the ten runners behind Addeybb.[16]

In the 2020 World's Best Racehorse Rankings, Mishriff was rated on 120, making him the equal 40th best racehorse in the world.[17]