Saeed bin Suroor © Photo Healy Racing
Saeed bin Suroor may have unearthed a real gem after Elwateen made a winning debut at Kempton on Wednesday.
Held in high regard by her handler, the daughter of Dubawi and Group One winner Tawkeel was sent off the 4-6 favourite in the hands of Kevin Stott, showcasing her ability to repel the threat of George Boughey’s Orchid at the finish.
She scored by a length, with Archie Watson’s Star Stakes disappointment Del Ray bouncing back to some kind of form in third to suggest the result has some real substance to it.
Elwateen holds an entry for the Group One bet365 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket on October 11 and although future plans are still to be determined, the youngster appears to have a bright future.
Bin Suroor told Racing TV: “She’s a nice filly, always I like her. For a two-year-old, she has always shown some class in the morning when she works.
“Tonight, I’d say she’s 80 per cent fit, so she’ll improve for the race and she looked like she needed it.
“She’s entered in a Group One, the Fillies’ Mile, but we’ll see how she comes back after the race and make a decision with Sheikha Hissa.
“Sometimes we have to give horses a chance to see how they improve from the race but I’m sure this filly will improve a lot, so we have to look after her for the future.
“If she does well here in the UK, maybe we can take her to Dubai, but otherwise she will stay here and could be one for the Guineas time, if she improves a lot.”
Although Bin Suroor is predominantly known for his handling of Godolphin stock, Elwateen was sporting the Shadwell silks of Sheikha Hissa, the colours carried to victory by the trainer’s 1999 Dubai World Cup winner Almutawakel.
He returned to the big-race scene when Mawj landed the 1000 Guineas last year and when asked to compare his latest prospect to his Newmarket Classic heroine, Bin Suroor added: “Mawj showed plenty of speed, but this filly is for seven furlongs or a mile, maybe in the future she could go further, but she seems a nice filly.”
The man on board was also suitably impressed with the performance shown from Elwateen.
Stott added: “She’s done everything very professionally there, she’s obviously very well bred, she’s done her home work very well and when the penny dropped a furlong and a half out, she proper put her head down and galloped all the way to the line. There wasn’t anything there I could fault, really.
“The second probably got a length or two on me while I had to wait for the cut-out rail, but I was always comfortable. Saeed likes her a lot.”
