First Classs Wins the $1 Million Kahayla Classic…Again!

by Denise Hearst

For the beautiful Arabian gelding, First Classs (Dahess x Topoftheclass), the gifts of pasture time in England, and his teams’ sensitivity to Classs’s preferences, including a certain exercise rider, made all the differences in his last two racing seasons. “Classs” was recently named the 2024-2025 Emirates Racing Authority Purebred Arabian Horse of the Year. The eight-year-old won the 2025 Group 1 Abu Dhabi Gold Cup on turf, in February and won the $1 million Kahayla Classic in Dubai on April 5, 2025, for the second time on dirt. 

First Classs winning the $1 million 2025 Kahayla classic in Dubai in April. Photo by Debbie Burt.

“Standing on the rail at the finish line and watching Tilal Al Khalediah try to get to First Classs was so exciting. Classs’s ears were pricked forward, his tail was flagged. He looked every inch the classic Arabian,” says breeder and owner, Deb Mihaloff. “We have always bred for authentic Arabian type – for good reason. A flagged tail has a cooling effect, and the large nostrils drink in the air.”

"We know the direction we’re going in and it’s right because First Classs showed us that we were right, and that it can be done.”

It was Jaci Wickham who recommended trainer Doug Watson to Deb, saying “He was the trainer for the late HH Sheikh Hamadan. He is the most honest and best trainer, and your horse will be the number one horse in his barn.” As Deb says, “I am honored to be in Doug Watson’s Red Stable because every single member of the team made me feel comfortable as I was going through the loss of my husband, Alan. I didn’t have to worry one bit about the horses and that’s a good feeling.”

Photo by Debbie Burt.

“Classs has to be ridden in a particular way,” says Deb. “He is not difficult, but the jockey needs to use finesse and allow him to find his pace early in a race, and quite frankly our previous jockey did not. It was not good for Classs’s reputation and it did not give him any legitimacy or respect because he was running hot and cold.

“We were happy to add jockey Connor Beasely to our team. That’s when we achieved the win in the GR 1 Abu Dhabi Gold Cup at Abu Dhabi Turf Club in February 2025, as he learned what our racing manager, Amanda Roxborough, and I had been trying to tell him.  Beasley and First Classs were then second in another Group 1 race in March, narrowly missing another win. “It was great to see the connection that they shared.”

Emotions run high for the Doug Watson training team after Deb Mihaloff’s First Classs (Dahess x Topoftheclass) won the $3 million Kahayla Classic for the second time. Photo by Debbie Burt.

This horse is an International Champion who has lifetime earnings of over $3,000,000.  Not too many horses can go from the the United States, to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, then France and England and back to France and then to the Middle East, and have any kind of consistency in their life.

"…every person in that barn has loved my horse as much as I do. Even more than I could."

“After the first of the year we tried to think of what would best suit Classs in his 2024-2025 racing season. He was invited to run in both races in Saudi Arabia and it was a heavy decision to make because he won Saudi’s  GR 1 Al Muneefa stake in 2022. But the last time we raced in Saudi, we were stuck for 17 hours at the Saudi border, and I did not want my horse to go through that again.”

Deb had her sights set on the 2025 April weekend and the GR 1 Dubai Kahayla Classic on Dubai World Cup night. Classs was training so well after his win in February and all signs were positive for tackling the best of the best in the Dubai World Cup’s classic race for Arabians. “His original trainer, Lynn Ashby, and I discussed it, and we agreed that he could handle the Kahayla Classic.

In the winners circle, a dream comes true for breeder and owner breeder Mihaloff, second from left, along with Amanda Roxborough. Photo by Debbie Burt.

“All we were hoping for was a good post draw. We came up with the number 14  post position. I was OK with that. Doug wanted a middle of the pack draw. But the 14 post position ment that Classs would to have to work hard to get to the front before the turn, so he would not get pushed wide. I said, ‘Keep your hands low.’  I mentioned to him in the saddling paddock that my U.S trainer, Lynn Ashby, wanted me to tell you that Classs does not like sand in his face. So keep him wide!’ 

"I knew that she loved him, and I knew that he would be crabby if she was not in his life."

“Amanda asked him if he watched the video of Classs winning this race last time, and he said he did. And she told him, “if he gets in a dog fight with another horse, let him, because that makes this horse go even better and faster, and wanting it even more.He did a fabulous job.”

Winning jockey Conner Beasley, speaks to the press. Photo by Debbie Burt

“After the race Connor said to me, ‘Oh, Deb, you didn’t need to worry, your horse had a whole other gear. And if that horse had come up alongside us we would have gone into that dogfight and we would have won it.’”

Adds Deb, “It was extra special for me because Classs and Connor were wearing our silks. The first time Classs won the Kahayla Classic he was on lease, so he was wearing the leasee’s silks. It was important to us that Classs be recognized as American-bred and owned. 

“Amanda was in sync with Doug Watson’s crew, Dion, Mark, his groom, and Bitten who rides Classs every day. I could not keep up with my horses, so Amanda became a blessing.

Click screen to view race.

Trainer Doug Watson spends some downtime with FIrst class on the day after his gigantic win.

“I am so honored to be in Doug’s barn because every single member of the team made me feel comfortable going through all that I had to do. I didn’t have to worry one bit about the horses and that’s a good feeling. Every member of the The Red Stable staff is first class. And every person in that barn has loved my horse as much as I do. Even more than I could. In fact, that’s why we once paid for his rider in France, Mauve, to come to Dubai and stay with Classs. I knew that she loved him, and I knew that he would be crabby if she was not in his life. She was the bridge at Red Stable in Dubai.

“Classs has the most wonderful personality. He is so smart. The Foreman who handles Doug’s barn, Mark, an Irishman, told me, ‘Deb, this horse goes to your soul. He commands you to love him. And he loves you back.”

“People say he’s the smartest horse they’ve ever known. All of his trainers have loved him.  This horse has had to overcome all sorts of obstacles — different trainers, different jockeys, and facilities,and he’s been able to do it all.”

What’s next for Classs? “We are sending him to France,” Deb says. “My mind is set on the December 2025 race in Abu Dhabi – they are offering a huge purse, last year it was $2.1 million and they project an increase for 2025. Or…I can take him to Goodwood, or to the Longchamp Arc de Triomphe race in Paris, or I can just give him the time off and bring him back again to Dubai. Classs didn’t do well in the Longchamp race the past two times he ran there ­– he didn’t like the track surface which is softer in the fall- it’s like a suction cup if it has rained. He prefers Paris in the spring!” 

Classs on a morning work, with one of his favorite exercise riders, Bitten. Photo by Dion.

Another “first” for Class: he has set a precedent for gelding racehorses.“In 2022 several farms started gelding their horses even here in the U.S., even the Thoroughbred industry started gelding their good horses, notes Deb. “People are realizing there’s no reason to  put up with a stallion. A gelding can win and you don’t have to put up with all that nonsense. The purse structures allow you to take on that kind of an attitude.”

For now, Deb is looking forward. She has two full sisters to First Classs that are on track to race: a two-year-old, A Special Class, and a yearling. She also has race champion Iridesse, another full sister, who is in France being bred to Hilal Al Zaman and full sister Taylors Touchof Class, who has produced a beautiful yearling in Virginia at Cre Run Farm. She will be bred to Al Mamoun Monlau.

"It was important to us that Classs be recognized as American-bred and owned."

“We were able to prove what I said about this horse. He was not finished. I was hoping that my late husband, Alan, would be able to see Classs run in our colors. But unfortunately, he wasn’t able to see that. He did get to see Winds of Fortune win just days before he passed away… he shed a few tears, knowing it would be the last race he would ever see one of his horses winning.  I know he was watching from above. He was instrumental in making this happen. On the same day, a horse that I bred, called Jim Dandy TotheRehessq, named after my dad, won an endurance ride and won best condition. My family from the heavens were telling me that they were with me. I could feel them… “

Breeder and owner Deb Mihaloff with First Classs the day after his win in the Kaheyla Classic. Photo by Debbie Burt.

As Deb says, “We have a plan. We know the direction we’re going in and it’s right because First Classs showed us that we were right, and that it can be done. If Classs was a Thoroughbred, he’d be in a retirement program right now. But he’s thriving and winning million dollar races because I gave him the time off. Yes it is an expense to pull a horse out of training and to bring him back. And you hope that nothing bad will happen…but you let the horse down,  let him become a horse again and gain confidence in himself, and be happy to perform the discipline that you have chosen for him. You can do that with Arabians; you can’t do it with a Thoroughbred. 

“At the end of the day, we want the very best for our horses.” 

"Mauve is an exercise rider from France," says Deb. "On occasion she has been sent to Dubai because we knew Classs would be crabby without her." 

Photo by Debbie Burt.

This is Jean de Mieulle, Classes’s forth trainer, and his seven-month-old daughter, Iris de Mieulle, up on Classs after his win in the Crown Jewel race in Abu Dhabi in 2022. It was Classs’s third million dollar win, and Jean’s first. The other young girl is Jean’s goddaughter, Gabrielle de Mieulle.