“All to play for,” explains Ed Veale, Director of Racing & International Relations at Bahrain International Turf Club.

"It's a very competitive platform. Of the twelve Turf Series races we ran last season, they were won by twelve different horses and of the eighteen races we promoted internationally, nine were won by domestically-trained horses whilst nine were won by international runners."

In 2019, the Bahrain Turf Club ran the inaugural Bahrain International Trophy. It was a determined move to put the Kingdom of Bahrain on the international racing map, having historically focused on pure-bred Arabians and domestic Thoroughbreds.

"What we're trying to do is learn from the very best and be associated with the world's leading jurisdictions. It was about encouraging international participation within Bahrain, whilst increasing the strength of our own racing product. The International Trophy was the first stage – it's our shop window to the world."

The contest, run over 2000m for a prize fund of one million dollars, was an immediate success. The first result embodied everything the Bahrain Turf Club were attempting to achieve, with the Jerome Reynier's Royal Julius leading home a France-Britain-Bahrain-trained top three.

"It gave a good indication of what the race could provide. Jerome Reynier was forward-thinking: it was a good match, an emerging trainer with an emerging racing jurisdiction."

Held in November, the Bahrain International Trophy holds an attractive place in the international racing calendar. For European horses, it can be a lucrative late-season goal:

"It's perfectly positioned as an extension of the European Pattern races and more importantly, it's a target for any fast ground horses who may have lost their conditions from the end of September."

With the International Trophy enjoying increasing prominence on the international calendar, earning Group 2 status in 2023, Bahrain were able to work towards increasing external competition on the remainder of their racing calendar. In 2024, Isle Of Jura completed a historic treble – the Crown Prince's Cup, the Al Khalifa Cup and the King's Cup – for British trainer George Scott.

"I don't think any of us could have hoped, in our international infancy, to have such a progressive and subsequently successful horse win. It shows what the programme has to offer: Isle of Jura came to Bahrain running in our valuable handicaps and progressed to be competitive in our better races. The competition he's helped create with our best horses has allowed us to invest in these races."

Returning from Bahrain, Isle Of Jura went from strength to strength, providing his young Newmarket-based trainer with a landmark Royal Ascot success in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes. Whilst injury has kept the exciting horse on the sidelines since, Scott is keen to return and praised the atmosphere of the Bahrain Turf Club:

"I love everything about it and have had a lot of success there. It's a very well-run, fair racecourse and the ground is always safe and well-managed. We had unbelievable support. There was a huge amount of interest from within Bahrain and as the journey went on, from outside of Bahrain as well. I felt like we were achieving something that was being respected."

The connection with British-trained representatives continued to boost the profile of Bahrain on the international stage in 2024, with the Richard Fahey-trained Spirit Dancer completing an International Trophy double. Yet it was the second-placed Lead Artist, who would help raise the profile of the contest further, by winning the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes in 2025.

"Lead Artist is a really important horse for us and it was incredibly significant: the first horse to go on from our feature race and win a Group 1," said Veale.

"He achieved a solid rating for our race and had the profile of the type of horse that could come to Bahrain as a three-year-old and get the experience of travelling."

Lead Artist's continuing exploits in Europe is a step in the right direction for Group 1 status for the International Trophy: a long-term goal for the jurisdiction.

"The vision has always been for the race to become a Group 1 and in order to do that, you need the best horses competing. We're trying to get horses from around the world and it's really encouraging to hear that Bahrain is becoming part of the leading trainer's thoughts and plans."

Big aspirations for the burgeoning Bahrain Turf Club: who are doing everything right in their goal to be a major player in the international calendar.