Al Kazeem (foaled 15 April 2008) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He showed promise as a two-year-old in 2010 and became a consistently successful performer in the following year. In 2012 he won the Jockey Club Stakes on his seasonal debut but was then sidelined by a pelvic fracture for almost a year. In 2013 he won the Gordon Richards Stakes on his comeback and then took three consecutive Group One races: the Tattersalls Gold Cup, Prince of Wales's Stakes and Eclipse Stakes. After proving subfertile in his first season at Sandringham Stud he returned to racing in 2014 to win the Winter Hill Stakes and finish a close second in the Champion Stakes. He began his 2015 season by winning the Prix d'Harcourt and went on to win a second Tattersalls Gold Cup before being retired for the second time in August after picking up a minor injury.He stands at Oakgrove Stud in South Wales.
Background
Al Kazeem is a dark-coated bay horse with a faint white star bred by his owner, John Deer. He was sired by Dubawi a top-class son of Dubai Millennium, whose wins included the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the Prix Jacques Le Marois. At stud, Dubawi has been a highly-successful breeding stallion, siring major winners such as Monterosso, Makfi, Lucky Nine and Poet's Voice. Al Kazeem's dam, Kazeem, failed to win at race, but came from a good family, being a daughter of the Princess Elizabeth Stakes winner Kanz who was closely related to several major winners including Tank's Prospect, Glint of Gold, Diamond Shoal and Ensconse.
Deer sent his colt into training with Roger Charlton at Beckhampton in Wiltshire.
Racing career
2010: two-year-old season
Al Kazeem made his racecourse debut on 7 October in a one-mile maiden race at Newbury Racecourse. Ridden by Steve Drowne he finished fifth of the seventeen runners behind Fulgur. Sixteen days later, over the same course and distance, he recorded his first success when he won a similar event by a length from Thimaar.
2011: three-year-old season
On his first appearance of 2011, Al Kazeem finished second to Cai Shen in a ten furlong race at Newbury. On 14 May over the same course and distance, the colt carried top weight of 130 pounds in the London Gold Cup, a handicap race for three-year-olds. He quickened clear in the closing stages and won by one and a quarter lengths at odds of 9/2.
After a break of three months, Al Kazeem returned at York Racecourse in August when he was moved up in class for the Group Two Great Voltigeur Stakes. He finished second of the eight runners, eight lengths behind the winner Sea Moon. In September he returned to Newbury for the eleven furlong Arc Trial. He took the lead two furlongs from the finish but was caught in the closing strides and was beaten half a length by Green Destiny. On his final race of the year, Al Kazeem started favourite for the St Simon Stakes at Newbury in which he finished second to the gelding Beaten Up.
2012: four-year-old season
On his first and only appearance as a four-year-old, Al Kazeem contested the Jockey Club Stakes over one and a half miles at Newmarket. Ridden by James Doyle, he took the lead a furlong from the finish and drew clear to win by four and a half lengths from a field which included the Group One winners Dunaden, Meandre and Masked Marvel. Shortly after this race Al Kazeem sustained a hairline fracture to his pelvis and was unable to race again in 2012.
2013: five-year-old season
In his first race for almost a year, Al Kazeem started 9/4 favourite for the Gordon Richards Stakes at Sandown Park Racecourse. He won by a length from the Henry Cecil-trained Thomas Chippendale, despite edging to the right in the closing stages. On 26 May, Al Kazeem was sent to Ireland where he was matched against the 2012 Epsom Derby winner Camelot in the Tattersalls Gold Cup. Doyle held the colt up at the back of the four runner field before moving forward in the straight. He overtook Camelot 100 yards from the finish to take his first Group One race by one and a half lengths. The win gave his jockey, James Doyle, his first win in Ireland and his second at Group One level following his win on the Charlton-trained Cityscape in the 2012 Dubai Duty Free Stakes. Doyle explained that Charlton had always believed that the horse would return to form, and said that "at the two-furlong pole I couldn't believe how well we were travelling – I was having to take him back."