Victory for the Noel Meade trained Layfayette in the Fitzdares Royal Whip Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday earned the evergreen six-year-old an ‘Automatic Invitation’ to the Bahrain International Trophy. The 2023 running of the Bahrain International Trophy will be more valuable than ever following the news that race’s value has been increased to $1M and the race’s status has been upgraded to Group 2 level.

Ridden by Irish champion jockey Colin Keane, Layfayette was a popular winner of the Group 3 Royal Whip Stakes, run over the same distance (1m2f) as the Bahrain International Trophy. Now in his fifth season, Layfayette was winning for the fourth time at the Curragh and in beating the favourite, the Aidan O’Brien trained filly Unless, he bounced back to form.

After the race, trainer Noel Meade, spoke to Racing TV about how much the six-year-old gelding means to him, his owners and the whole team: “Layfayette is a particular favourite. Oh my, where do you find a horse like him? He’s a horse of a lifetime really. If you’re buying into horses to run on the Flat you don’t come into horses like this too often.”

The Group 3 Fitzdares Royal Whip Stakes is the first of three races carrying an ‘Automatic Invitation’ to the winner for the Bahrain International Trophy. The next is the Sky Bet and Symphony Group Strensall Stakes (Group 3) at York on Saturday 26^th August. The final race, the Masar Darley Stakes (Group 3), is run at Newmarket on Saturday 14^th October.

The 2023 running of the $1M Bahrain International Trophy will take place on 17^th November at the Rashid Equestrian & Horseracing Club with entries for the 1m2f (2000m) event closing on 5^th October. Last year’s race included runners from six different countries and was won by Dubai Future, trained by Saeed Bin Suroor for Godolphin, while in 2021 the ever-popular grey Lord Glitters won the race for trainer David O’Meara.