All eyes on Baaeed in eagerly-awaited Lockinge return
Budding superstar won each of his six starts last year.
Baaeed will bid to conserve his flawless record when kicking off his season in the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on Saturday. The William Haggas-trained Sea The Stars colt has been victorious on each of his six racecourse appearances to date, signing off his three-year-old term by defeating Palace Pier in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot. That neck triumph was his narrowest thus far, with previous Group successes in the Prix du Moulin and the Thoroughbred Stakes achieved by a length and a quarter and six and a half lengths respectively. “Most milers start off in the Lockinge if they are that class,” Haggas said.“After he did what he did on Champions Day it was a pretty straightforward decision – the programme for a miler is the Lockinge and then the Queen Anne and then take on the three-year-olds – wherever that may take us. “If there was any talk about him retiring to stud, I wasn’t party to it. Obviously I wouldn’t have been in favour but those decisions are out of my hands. “Sheikha Hissa, who is in charge of Shadwell now, was very keen to race him as a four-year-old. “Obviously I didn’t think he’d go from being a maiden winner to champion miler within four months, but it was a strange one because everyone knows we are not in a rush most of the time.” Baaeed will face Group One-winning fillies Alcohol Free and Mother Earth in the Lockinge, both of whom he defeated in the QEII.
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