Shayem: triple Stakes winner by King of Change
Goodwood double in 35mins for Tweenhills stallions
Tweenhills sires, Kameko and King of Change, provided the first two winners on the penultimate day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival, inc. Shayem in the Gr.3 Thoroughbred Stakes.
Shayem has already been a fine advertisement for his sire, King of Change, by winning the Listed Silver Tankard Stakes at 2 and Listed Sir Henry Cecil Stakes earlier in July.
Shayem faced his biggest test to date against Gr.1 St James’s Palace stakes 3rd Talk of New York in the Gr.3 Thoroughbred Stakes at Goodwood but improved another chunk to come out on top, with the pair clear of front runner Catallus.
Shayem was given an excellent ride by Clifford Lee and again showed a very willing attitude in victory. His trainer Karl Burke suggested he could next run in the Gr.2 Celebration Mile over the same C&D on August 29, though with a couple of valuable options in the US too.
Congratulations to Shayem’s owner breeder Mr Abdulrazaq Mohamdi, who bred him out of the unraced Exceed And Excel mare Sounds of April.
King of Change is clearly a very exciting sire, and he covered well over 100 mares in his first season standing at Tweenhills in 2026 after 5 years in Ireland.
He will have a big crop of 2yos to run in 2027, and we are sure he will continue to go from strength to strength.
The card kicked off with the marathon Goodwood Handicap won by Defiantly, a son of Kameko bred by Qatar Racing.
Defiantly had gone very close in the Ascot Stakes at Royal Ascot and his rider at Goodwood, Dylan Browne McMonagle, put his stamina to good use as he sent him to the front 4f from the winning post.
Defiantly responded in extremely game fashion to win by 3 lengths, justifying favouritism for trainer Joseph O’Brien and owner Australia Bloodstock Two, who bought the gelding privately before his 2026 return.
Defiantly is out of Listed-winning Galileo mare Roheryn, whose other progeny are Gr.1 winner Buckaroo, multiple Gr.3 winner Middle Earth, Stakes-placed pair Siege of Troy and Kihavah, and winner Thousand Oaks. That’s some record!
Shayem: triple Stakes winner by King of Change
