Mawatheeq follows Nayef route

Mawatheeq will try to emulate Nayef when he lines up for the Emirates Airline Champion Stakes at Newmarket tomorrow.

Nayef also won the Cumberland Lodge Stakes at Ascot as a three-year-old in 2001, after which he secured glory in the 10-furlong Group One for owner Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum and jockey Richard Hills.

Trainer Marcus Tregoning has followed the same path with Mawatheeq for the same combination.

“He won very easily at Ascot. I was very pleased with him and he picked up really well,” said Tregoning.

“He won well in the end, and I hope we don’t get much rain as the faster the ground, the better it is for him.

“The Champion Stakes is a step up, but he is very well.

“It is hard to know with him if he has improved from Ascot, and with the races being so close I haven’t done too much with him, but he is fresh and lightly raced.

“That can help you to find a few pounds at this time of the year, and of course this is the same route with took with Nayef.

“We had to supplement as the yard wasn’t going so well when the entries closed.

“He didn’t come into training until he was three-years-old after having problems as a juvenile, and he is one to look forward to for next year as well.”