Many congratulations to Abdulla Al Khalifa on the victory of his homebred Mehmas colt Magnum Force in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar on Saturday.
The Ger Lyons-trained colt showed a blistering turn of foot under Colin Keane to quicken through horses and win well from Arizona Blaze.
Second behind fellow Mehmas colt Diego Ventura, also subsequently a stakes performer, on his debut at Naas, Magnum Force won his second start at Cork before running placed in the Listed Rockingham Stakes and Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes. Thanks to Saturday's success, he becomes the ninth 2yo stakes winner of the year in Europe for Mehmas and the third to score at Group/Grade 1 level after Scorthy Champ and Vertical Blue.
"I'm speechless," said Ger Lyons. "I knew he was the right horse for the job, whether he was good enough we didn't know. When you've Colin Keane riding for you, probably the most underrated champion jockey in the world - believe me the world needs to open up to him.
"Huge credit to the horse and my team. There's plenty of us trainers who can do this if we get the horses. The secret to training winners is getting those horses. It's as simple as that."
Keane said: "That's the way he likes to be ridden - he needs a bit of luck in running and he got it. His last two runs in Britain were very good despite being beaten, as things didn't go to plan.
"We were very hopeful here going over five furlongs around a bend on quick ground. We knew it'd bring out the best in him. I didn't think we'd seen the best of him in Ireland or Britain."
Magnum Force was bred by Sheikh Abdulla bin Isa Al-Khalifa out of Tropical Rock, a winning daughter of Fastnet Rock.
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