Nayef was always going to have a lot to live up to as a half-brother to Derby winner Nashwan and one of the most attractive horses in training.

The Gulch colt caught the eye wherever he went and soon prompted Marcus Tregoning, a former assistant to Nashwan's trainer Dick Hern, into believing he could match the hype.

"He was just the most outstanding looking horse as a yearling. We'd had some success with Gulch already at that time with (1000 Guineas winner) Harayir but he was still a bit unknown," Tregoning said.

"Obviously he was a half-brother to a Derby winner and we expected a lot of him as he was very exciting at two.

"We plotted pretty much the same course we took with Nashwan and he was actually a more impressive winner of the Autumn Stakes at Ascot than Nashwan was and people latched on to that."

Nayef went into winter quarters as one of the leading hopes for the 2000 Guineas but was turned over at odds of 4-6 in the Craven Stakes before trailing home eighth in the Classic itself.

Tregoning still believed he had a top-level performer on his hands but was forced back to the drawing-board as Nayef evidently could not continue on the Nashwan path.

"He just needed a bit more time as a three-year-old as he was such a big horse and Sheikh Hamdan (Al Maktoum, owner) is an excellent man to give them the time they need," he explained.

Tregoning's faith was to be fully justified later in the year, however, as Nayef notched up five successive wins and progressed from taking the Rose of Lancaster at Haydock to Champion Stakes glory, booking his ticket to Dubai in the process.

"It was great to win five races with him but I think the time we really started to get serious with him was in Dubai when he went out for the World Cup," continued the trainer.

"He was rerouted to the Sheema Classic and won that well but I think if we had gone for the big one, he might well have won it that year."

Nayef's four-year-old season back in Europe looked set for anti-climax when beaten at the Curragh and Ascot.

But the colt yet again pulled something extra out of the bag when just going down by a head to Golan in a thrilling conclusion to the 2002 King George.

Tregoning nominates Nayef's return to winning form as the pinnacle of his achievements though.

"I think his best win for me was the International at York. I thought he had been unlucky not to win the King George the time before and I was very confident going to York, I thought he would definitely win and luckily he did," he said.

Nayef claimed just one more victory after that success, albeit in the Prince of Wales's Stakes which set a Royal seal on his admirable career.

Nayef's racing days may be over but he still continues to shine in his new role in the breeding shed, counting a Group Two winner in Spacious amongst his first crop of juveniles last season.

That filly came close to Classic glory when second in the 1000 Guineas, while a first Group One victory was netted by Tamayuz in the Prix Jean Prat earlier this month.

"He's doing very well at stud now and it was great to see him get a first Group One winner for Freddy Head in France last week - although I wish I trained Tamayuz," joked Tregoning.

"There's a lot of nice Nayefs about at the moment. I have one or two - not that many - but one of them, Asfurah's Dream, is a really nice filly.

"She's a lot like Nayef, very immature at two, and just had the one run at Lingfield last year.

"We gave her plenty of time though and she won her maiden at Goodwood last month so hopefully she will continue to improve with time like her sire did."

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