Mina Rashid

Introducing Mina Rashid, a flashy 3-year-old gelding, now in training with the legendary Nicky Henderson LVO OBE.

Mina Rashid was bought for £45,000 at the Tattersalls September Sale by Highflyer Bloodstock on behalf of Old Gold Racing. We were prepared to spend considerably more, so think that Mina Rashid represents excellent value for prospective owners.

After speaking with his former trainer, Andrew Balding, it became clear that he ticks all of the right boxes for a horse making the switch from Flat to Jumps racing.

Mina Rashid won on seasonal debut for his previous yard following a pleasing campaign as a two-year-old. He won by 1¼ lengths, beating an impressive field that included subsequent winners and an Epsom Derby runner.

He then took up some very ambitious entries later in the summer, running in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot and the 2024 Deutches Derby (Group 1) in Germany. Mina Rashid has achieved a Flat (Turf) official rating of 85 (the average is 68) off the back of these performances. It is worth noting that the rule of thumb for converting a Flat (Turf) rating into a National Hunt rating is to add about 40 points.

Clearly a strong staying type, having won over 1m4½f and run over further subsequently, a change of code is expected to unlock Mina Rashid’s full potential.

Mina Rashid’s sire, Almanzor was an European Champion three-year-old colt when winning the French Derby and the British and Irish Champion Stakes, earning himself over £2 million in prize money.

Almanzor stood at Haras d’Etreham for a fee of €35,000 at his peak. Such was his international appeal, that he even made trips to Cambridge Stud in New Zealand. This led him to become a permanent resident in the Southern Hemisphere. His runners over Jumps include the Willie Mullins trained and Listed winner Daddy Long Legs, along with Miss Manzor, who placed in a Grade 2 for the same yard.

Mina Rashid’s dam, Reproof, was herself a winner at three-years-old in France, where she ran over trips from 7f to 1m2½f. Mina Rashid is her first foal and was initially sold for 100,000gns. Her second foal, by Sea The Moon, sold to current connections for 52,000gns and has placed on both of his runs so far. Her Saxon Warrior yearling sold to top connections at the recent sales in Germany.

Reproof is by the American sire Blame, who won nine of his thirteen starts including the Breeders Cup Classic G1. As a Damsire he has produced multiple Group winners including Sacred, Forte and Kathleen O.

Mina Rashid was gelded shortly after arriving at Nicky Henderson Racing and has since been re-introduced to training.

Nicky really likes everything he has seen of him so far and is very much looking forward to a season of juvenile hurdling with him, informing us that “we’ll look after him as best we can and hopefully he’ll reward us… we think he likes a cut in the ground, which helps a lot as we head into those winter months”.

Nicky Henderson LVO OBE, is based at Seven Barrows near Lambourn, Berkshire. Nicky hit 3000 career wins in July 2018 and has been crowned Champion Trainer six-times during the course of his career. He has a formidable Cheltenham Festival record, having sent out over 70 winners there, eight of which have come from the Champion Hurdle.

Nicky was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to horse racing. Nicky has trained some spectacular Jumpers during his time, dominating the two-mile chasing scene with Sprinter Sacre and Altior. His yard is currently home to some of the best horses in the National Hunt Sphere, such as Constitution Hill and Jonbon.