Royal Ascot will be the next destination for George Boughey's globetrotting pupil Believing as the trainer sets his sights on more group 1 success.
The 5-year-old Mehmas mare won her first race at the highest level at the ninth attempt in the April 5 Al Quoz Sprint (G1T) at Meydan Racecourse, and while that was enough to gain the best black type for her new owners—the Coolmore partners and John Stewart's Resolute Racing—Boughey now has Ascot in his sights.
The trainer was not present to see her record a battling victory over Japan's Win Carnelian over the weekend, but gained immense satisfaction from the feat and has reported her to be in excellent condition since she returned to his Newmarket yard.
"I've actually never seen her win," the trainer said. "I'm expecting my first child this week, she's overdue, so I possibly could have been there but the job was done by my team who know her so well.
"We did a lot of work with the stalls after she went over in the gate at Del Mar, just trying to get that discipline into her that she was able to relax. She just seemed in a very different mental space in the last eight to 10 weeks. She's gone from strength to strength and she's looked amazing since we got back.
"There was unfinished business that we wanted to tick off. There was huge personal satisfaction in Coolmore keeping her in the stable and trusting the process. Winning the One Thousand Guineas with Cachet was an amazing day, but to ship a filly through the winter into Dubai after what happened in America (late veterinary scratch at the Breeders' Cup) was very satisfying.
"We'll wait a long time to achieve something else like that."
Believing won the Achilles and Sapphire (G2) stakes in an ambitious campaign last season when she finished fourth in both major sprints at Royal Ascot, second in the Flying Five (G1) and Nunthorpe (G1) stakes, and third in the Prix de l'Abbaye (G1).
Coolmore's M. V. Magnier signed the ticket at 3 million guineas (approx. US$3,986,453) for Believing at the 2024 Tattersalls December Mare Sale. Previously owned by Highclere Thoroughbred Racing—Jane Addams, the Al Quoz Sprint was her first start for for her new owners.
All eyes will now be on a return to June's showcase meeting where she chased home Asfoora and Khaadem last year.
"She'll go straight to Royal Ascot," Boughey said. "She'll have an entry in both of the group 1 sprints and we'll make a decision with the owners. They've got Storm Boy for the sprint division too.
"I don't think she'll be campaigned quite as aggressively this year, but Ascot is the main target. The King Charles is arguably the greatest test of speed and she'll have horses around the world taking her on. I'd love to see her turn up there in the form she was in at Meydan.
"We've only had a couple of top-level performers going from their fourth to fifth year and we don't really have that in flat racing. It's great and we'd love to have more of them, they're just very hard to find."
