Muhaarar likely to retire this year Angus Gold, racing manager to owner Hamdan Al Maktoum, expects Royal Ascot and July Cup hero Muhaarar to be retired at the end of the season. The Charlie Hills-trained three-year-old was a brilliant winner of the inaugural Commonwealth Cup last month and added another Group One prize to his CV with a last-gasp triumph in a thriller on the July Course last weekend. "The problem with him is he's very important to the breeding operation," Gold told Racing UK. "Sheikh Hamdan is mad about his breeding and we've been looking for a horse like this for a very long time - a well-bred, good-looking horse with speed. "He's won two Group Ones as a three-year-old and a Group-race as a two-year-old - he's exactly what we need at the stud. "If I was a betting man I would say he'll probably be at stud (next year), but let's see what happens for the rest of the year. It's obviously Sheikh Hamdan's decision." The Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville remains Muhaarar's most likely next objective.
