Qatar International Stakes Guide 2020

Qatar International Stakes Group 1PA

Saturday 1st August 2020

The Qatar International Stakes (Group 1PA) The Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club is honoured to once again partner Goodwood Racecourse in organising one of the most prestigious racing events in the world; the Qatar Goodwood Festival.

Where excellence and sportsmanship come together.

Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club “Supporting and promoting Arabian racing at this difficult time is an achievement which QREC has been able to realise through coordination with ARO and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and we do appreciate their cooperation.

This year’s edition will be exceptional as it comes during the Covid-19 pandemic and the related new challenges. Therefore, racing at the Qatar Goodwood Festival will remain special as ever”.

Nasser Bin Sherida Al Kaabi Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club CEO

“We are honoured that a contest of this quality will be our opening race of the season. That two of the leading contenders are renewing their rivalries in this race for a fourth time and are previous winners, underlines the appeal and durability of the breed.

“Though our season has been delayed, we are very grateful for the continued support of Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club and Goodwood racecourse of UK Arabian racing at this most challenging time. We are all delighted to have the opportunity to showcase our sport on the world’s stage once more.”

Genny Haynes, Arabian Racing Organisation Commercial and Finance Director

The Arabian and Goodwood Horse racing has existed ever since horses were first domesticated, around 7,000 years ago. The Arabian horse is one of the oldest breeds and was developed specifically for stamina and soundness over long distances by the Bedouin tribes of the Arabian Peninsula.

During the late 17th and early 18th century, horse racing became popular in Britain and with races run in heats, over distances of up to four miles, stamina and soundness were of great importance. Breeders looked to the East for this quality and many oriental stallions and mares were imported to help create the Thoroughbred racehorse. The most famous of these foundation stallions were The Darley Arabian, The Godolphin Arabian and The Byerley Turk.

With no photography or film at that time, we can be thankful that our foremost equine artist, George Stubbs, was able to record the breeds’ early development, including portraits of a number of these imported stallions. Some of Stubbs’s earliest patrons were Lord Grosvenor, whose Arabian he painted in a typical Stubbs landscape and Charles Lennox, the third Duke of Richmond.

Stubbs stayed at Goodwood House for nine months, producing three paintings which summed up life on the estate including ‘Racehorses Exercising at Goodwood’ with Mary, Duchess of Richmond in the centre, watching three horses gallop away, whilst a fourth is rubbed down in the foreground.

Today, around 50% of Thoroughbred’s trace their ancestry to the Darley Arabian alone and with the emphasis now on breeding for speed, the modern Thoroughbred is approximately one second per furlong faster than an Arabian racehorse. Through genome testing, we know that Arabians carry the T:T variant, or stamina gene, as did Eclipse, the elite racehorse of his day, and another of Stubbs’s subjects.

Arabian racing and breeding takes place in 32 countries, all year round. Countries such as France, America, Russia, Poland and the Gulf States have a full programme of Arabian racing integrated with Thoroughbred racing, whilst in Turkey it is almost 50-50 Thoroughbred to Arabian racing at their racecourses.

Purebred Arabian racing began in the UK in 1978 and was established as the Arabian Racing Organisation (ARO) in 1999 under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum. ARO holds around 50 races per season, comprising of full fixtures and single races on Thoroughbred cards from spring through to autumn. Just like their Thoroughbred cousins, Arabian racehorses may compete in maidens, handicaps, conditions and Group (Pattern) races and there is an International Classification system to assist global competition.

Prior to the Qatar International Stakes, Arabians last raced at Goodwood in 2002, in a six furlong sprint open to international runners. The introduction of the Qatar International Stakes to the Goodwood Festival has brought some of the world’s top Arabian racehorses to compete on the Sussex Downs, including the 2016 winner Al Mourtajez, who still holds the track record for this event. He became the World’s highest ever rated Arabian racehorse later that year when he was awarded a rating of 134 after winning The Qatar Arabian World Cup at Chantilly in October.

The following year in torrential rain, Tayf and Ebraz duelled throughout the final furlong, with Tayf proving victorious by a nose in a photo. Despite the challenging weather conditions, it was a thrilling contest and voted ‘Finish of the Day’ by Racing UK [now Racing TV]. In 2018 Ebraz was again runner-up, though this time to Muraaqib, with Tayf in fourth.

All three horses were entered for the 2019 race, in which Ebraz finally won on his third attempt. It was to become the first stage in an historic achievement as he then went on to win the Qatar Arabian World Cup over 1m2f at ParisLongchamp on Arc weekend and the HH The Amir Sword over 1m4f (for a record third time) in Qatar, becoming the first winner of the Doha Triple Crown - which carried a $1 million USD bonus.

This year Ebraz and Tayf re-oppose for a fourth time. Ebraz has followed his regular programme, contesting the Shadwell Coupe du Sud-Ouest des Pur Sang Arabes a Group 3 PA just short of 1m2f at La Teste de Buch in France. He looked certain of a third win, when Bel'izam, in receipt of weight, just got up on the line to win by a head.

Bel'izam will be suited by dropping back in distance here, but at level weights will not find Ebraz so easy to ambush.

Like Ebraz, Tayf spends his winters racing in Qatar, he often runs well on his European reappearance as when winning this race in 2017, and the President of the UAE Cup Coupe d'Europe des Chevaux Arabes (Gr1PA) at ParisLongchamp last year. This will be his first run since leaving Qatar and in a new arrangement for the horses of HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani, his first since joining the stable of Thomas Fourcy in France, whilst his regular trainer Alban de Mieulle stays in Qatar to oversee the rest of the Umm Qarn team. Deyran won the 'Coupe de Europe' this year, his first top-level win, which his connections feel was long overdue. He has been known to pull himself up after hitting the front in a race, but former French champion jockey, Ioritz Mendizabal seems to have his measure.

The domestic challenge is without a Group 1PA horse this year, however, with prize money down to sixth place, competition will be strong between the five UK trained runners, the most to contest this race since it was inaugurated in 2015.

Qatar International Stakes - Race Statistics Owner

Runners

Best Finishing Position

HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani

5

1st Tayf 2017

HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani

7

1st Ebraz 2019

YAS Horse Racing Management

1

6th Taymour 2019

Zayin Arabin Stud

1

8th Zayin Angkor Centurion 2018

No previous runners: Okbar Mohammed Aashour, Sheikh Rashid bin Hamdan Al Maktoum, Dilmun Racing, Elm Farm Arabians, James Owen Racing Club.

Trainer

Runners

Best Finishing Position

Thomas Fourcy (FR)

3

1st Al Mourtajez 2016

Julian Smart (QA)

7

1st Ebraz 2019

Damien de Watrigant (FR)

1

6th Sahabba 2016

Mr James Owen

1

6th Crahck 2017

Mr Peter Hammersley

3

7th Hau Kola 2019

No previous runners: Mr Okbah Aashour, Didier Guillemin (FR), Mrs Jayme Plumb.

Jockey

Rides

Best Finishing Position

Olivier Peslier

5

1st Tayf 2017

Jim Crowley

2

1st Muraaqib 2018

Maxime Guyon

1

1st Ebraz 2019

Tom Marqand

1

7th Hau Kola 2019

No previous rides: Hector Crouch, J F Egan, Richard Kingscote, Ioritz Mendizabal, Keiran O'Neill.

Qatar International Stakes - Form

128

EBRAZ (GB)

(7 H Amer x Massamarie) HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani 6 x Gr1PA: HH The Amir Sword 2017, 2019, 2020

123

TAYF (FR)

(8 H Amer x Djelmila) HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani 2 x Gr1PA:

1m4f Doha, Qatar

President of the UAE Cup - Coupe d'Europe des

Qatar Arabian World Cup 2019

Chevaux Arabes 2019

1m2f, ParisLongchamp, France

1m2f, ParisLongchamp, France

Qatar International Stakes 2019

Qatar International Stakes 2017

1m Goodwood, UK

1m Goodwood, UK

Qatar Cup (Prix Dragon) 2017 1m2f Chantilly, France 1 x Gr2PA 1m, Doha, Qatar 2 x Gr3PA 1m1.5f, La Teste de Buch, France 14 wins from 30 starts (never out of the first four) “Ebraz is in great form, he needed his prep race a few weeks ago at La Teste, as he usually does.

I’m very happy with his preparation so far and am looking forward to getting over to England, it’s great for Arabian racing start there with a race of this quality.”

Julian Smart

1 x Gr2PA 1m2f, Doha, Qatar 2 x Gr3PA 1m1.5f, La Tested de Buch, France; 1m3f, Doha, Qatar 6 wins from 29 starts

117

DERYAN (FR)

111

BEL'IZAM (FR)

(5 H Mahabb x Haboob)

(5 H Nizam x Djesabelle)

YAS Horseracing Management

HH Sheikh Rashid bin Hamdan Al Maktoum

1 x Gr1PA:

2 x Gr3PA : 1m, Toulouse, France; 1m1.5f, La Teste

President of the UAE Cup - Coupe d'Europe de Chevaux Arabes 2020 1m2f, Deauville, France

de Buch, France 1 x LRPA: 7f, La Teste de Buch, France 4 wins from 14 starts (not out of the first four)

1 x Gr2PA: 1m, Chantilly, France 2 x Gr3PA: 1m1.5f, La Teste de Buch, France, 1m1.5f, Casablanca, Morocco 6 wins from 12 starts

"Deryan is a very good horse and should enjoy the distance of a mile. The opposition will be much stronger here than for his victory at Deauville, but it will be interesting to see how

105

STORM TROUPOUR (US)

he behaves in such company!�

(9 H Nivour de Cardonne x ES Ornetta)

Thierry Delegue,

Okbar Aashour

European racing manager for YAS

1 x Gr3PA: 1200m Dirt, Jagerso, Sweden

Horseracing Management

6f, soft; 7f polytrack; 7.5f, 1m, Dirt 8th Qatar International Stakes (Gr1PA) 1m, Goodwood,Good, 2019 9th Qatar International Stakes (Gr1PA) 1m, Goodwood,Good, 2018 6 wins from 32 starts

95*

SHAHEER (AE)

(9 H Abu Alemarat x Jameela) Elm Farm Arabians 1 x Gr3PA: 1m3f, Abu Dhabi, UAE 2 UAE wins: 1m, 1m3f 3 wins from 26 starts

82

TIJAARY (FR)

(7 G Al Saoudi x Petranuille) James Owen Racing Club 3 wins: 7f, 8f, 1m2f AW Leading horse in UK 2019 (races won) "He did brilliantly for the Racing Club last year and for them to have a runner at Goodwood is what it's all about. The dream for them would be to pick up some prize money."

James Owen

95

ZAYIN ANGKOR CENTURION (GB)

(7 H Dahess x Barryh) Zayin Arabian Stud Ltd 2 wins: 7f, 8f AW 8th Qatar International Stakes (Gr1PA) 1m, Goodwood,Good, 2018 2 wins from 17 start

"He had a few training setbacks last year which was just one of those things. He's back to his best now and is as good as when he was second in the ARO Cup (Gr3PA) over a mile at Windsor."

Peter Hammersley

81

ABIYAH ATHBAH (GB)

(6 M Jaafer ASF x Burning Fancy) Dilmun Racing 2 wins: 1m1f, 1m2f AW Leading mare in UK 2019 (races won) "We know it is a big ask for her to run at this level and of course she would have to improve significantly, but the owners were keen to come. She's in really good good form and is stronger than ever this year."

Peter Hammersley

1st Race 1.15pm Qatar International Stakes (Gr1PA) - entries 128

Ebraz

7H

Julian Smart (QA)

9.00

123

Tayf (FR)

8H

Thomas Fourcy (FR)

9.00

117

Deryan(FR)

5H

Didier Guillemin (FR)

9.00

116

Bel'izam (FR)

5H

Damien de Watrigant (FR)

9.00

114

Mehdaaf Athbah

8H

Mr Philip Collington

9.00

105

Storm Troupour (US)

9H

Mr Okbah Aashour

9.00

95*

Shaheer (AE)

9H

Mrs Jayme Plumb

9.00

95

Zayin Angkor Centurion 7 H

Mr Peter Hammersley

9.00

82

Tijaary (FR)

7G

Mr James Owen

9.00

81

Abiyah Athbah

6M

Mr Peter Hammersley

8.10

[Declared runners in bold] *Provisional rating Race Conditions:

Distance: 8f (1600m)

Age range: 4yo and upwards

Surface: Turf

Field Safety Limit: 18

Total Prize Fund: £200,000

Weights: 5yo and upwards 9st 4yo 8st 13lb Allowances: Fillies & Mares - 4lb

Winning Horse: £100,000 Places: Second - £40,000 Third: £24,000 Fourth - £16,000 Fifth - £12,000

Nomination (entry): closed July 27 Declaration: £500 by 1100 hrs on July 30 Jockey Declarations: by 1100hrs on July 30

Sixth - £8,000

There will also be a prize of £250 awarded to the groom of the Best Turned Out horse.

Qatar International Stakes Group 1PA Previous Winners, Ground and Times: 2019

Ebraz (GB)

HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani Julian Smart (Qatar), Maxime Guyon Good, 1.47.56

Watch the race here: https://youtu.be/GcwuuzWTx7M 2018

Muraaqib (FR)

HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Francois Rohaut (France), Jim Crowley Good, 1.48.00

Watch the race here: https://youtu.be/LqCFl3WiU1g 2017

Tayf (FR)

HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani Alban de Mieulle (Qatar), Olivier Peslier Soft, 1.55.77

Watch the race here: https://youtu.be/J9boJgCpbPk 2016

Al Mourtajez (FR)

Al Shaqab Racing Thomas Fourcy (France), Julien Augé Good to Firm, 1.43.54

2015

Sir Bani Yas (FR)

HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Suc. J-F Bernard (France), Jean-Bernard Eyquem Good to Firm, 1.46.35

Saturday 1st August 2020 Qatar Goodwood Festival

2020 Equine Creative Media in association with the Arabian Racing Organisation