British challengers set for Bahrain International Trophy - watch it live on Racing TV!

Royal Hunt Cup winner Afaak is among six British challengers in a maximum 14-strong field for the inaugural running of the £500,000 Bahrain International Trophy in the Arabian Gulf on Friday, which you can watch live on Racing TV at 1.30pm.

The Charlie Hills-trained five-year-old was last seen finishing in midfield in the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket in September, and will be searching his first success at a mile and a quarter.

That was the Sheikh Hamdan-owned Afaak’s fourth run in successive months, but connections were keen to support the new event.

“They asked us to send a horse and Sheikh Hamdan agreed to let him go over there,” said racing manager Angus Gold.

“The trainer says he’s still in good form. He’s had to travel and get there in one piece.

“He’s not travelled abroad to race before, but he’s an older horse so he should be able to take it OK.”

John Smith’s Cup scorer Pivoine continues his globetrotting adventures for the Andrew Balding stable, after finishing fourth in the Canadian International at Woodbine last month.

Completing the British raid are Aquarium (trained by Jane Chapple-Hyam), Mountain Angel (Roger Varian), Coolagh Forest (Paul d’Arcy) and Turgenev (John Gosden).

Fabrice Chappet’s Intellogent, winner of last year’s Group One Prix Jean Prat, and the Fawzi Nass-trained Group Three winner Euginio, formerly with Richard Hannon, are among the other runners.

The Bahrain International Trophy will be showcased to more than 60 countries via Racecourse Media Group’s (RMG) distribution network.

Racecourse Media Group, working with the Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club (REHC) in Bahrain, has secured widespread global coverage of the event, with 17 countries in the Middle East and North Africa having access to the race via the Dubai Racing Channel and Bahrain TV.

Europe is served by Racing TV (UK and ROI), Match TV (Russia), SilkNet (Georgia), Equidia (France), and TV Sports (Scandinavia).

SportsMax will provide coverage to all 32 countries in the Caribbean, while Hainan TV and Sky Thoroughbred Central will show recordings on their platforms in China and Australia respectively.

Seb Vance, Director of Communications and International TV Distribution, said: “We are honoured to be working with the Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club in showcasing the first ever running of the Bahrain International Trophy to TV audiences around the world.

“Given this is year one, the interest in broadcasters has been hugely encouraging and indicates that the race, and racing in Bahrain, is already resonating around the world.”

RMG is the parent company of Racing TV, which will be showing the Trophy live, while its streaming service, Extra, will broadcast the full one-hour programme. RMG, which recently was awarded the distribution and production contracts at Meydan for a further two seasons (which will be six in total), is also overseeing the production of the one-hour ‘world feed’ programme.