Tribune News Network
Doha
Owner Wathnan Racing, trainer Alban de Mieulle and jockey Soufiane Saadi completed a grand double on the second day of the His Highness The Amir Sword Festival on Friday.
At Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club’s (QREC) Al Rayyan Racecourse, the French duo won the US $400,000 Al Rayyan Breeders Cup 2000m feature for Local Thoroughbreds as Balzac beat Equinoxe, guided by Mickael Barzalona in the same silks, by a quarter of a length to complete a one-two for Wathnan Racing and De Mieulle.
The Al Jeryan Stud–owned and M.H.K Al-Attiyah–trained Al Buraq came third.
In the penultimate race of the day, Al Jeryan Stud’s homebred AJS Sarhan retained the Al Zubara Trophy for the second straight year. Trained by Gassim Ghazali, the seven-year-old relished the return to the longer distance of 2000m and won the US $200,000 race impressively by two and a half lengths under jockey Maxime Guyon.
It was also a double on the day for trainer Rudy Andre Nerbonne and jockey Lukas Delozier as the HE Sheikha Iman bint Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani-owned Hargan took a listed victory in the Purebred Arabian Sprint Cup, flying home in the final furlong to win by three quarters of a length.
Nerbonne and Delozier were earlier in the winner’s enclosure as the HE Sheikha Yasmeen bint Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani-owned Nazwa emerged victorious in the Purebred Arabian Filly and Mare Seada Cup for four-year+ by a length.
It was the Nerbonne-trained five-year-old mare’s second win in a row and again with Lukas Delozier in the saddle. The five-year-old mare, won the Class 4 Purebred Arabian Graduation Plate for four-year-olds at at Al Uqda Racecourse on January 11.
Wathnan Racing’s Toufik remained unbeaten by winning the Gulf Cup for Purebred Arabians Bred in GCC. The Alban de Mieulle-trained four-year-old colt easily defied the experience factor of his rivals to win by two and a half lengths under jockey Soufiane Saadi.
The four year grey colt earlier won the Nocice Cup (Class 5) on January 20th and local purebred Arabaian Maiden Plate (class 6) on December 28th last year.
Injaaz Stud’s Kerindia proved that she had the strongest credentials in the Thoroughbred Filly and Mare Oryx Cup. In the hands of jockey Jim Crowley, the Zuhair Mohsen-saddled four-year-old filly produced an emphatic front running performance and was in a league of her own as she took the race by staggering seven and a half lengths.
To start the day two of the festival, Al Thumama Racing-owned and Mohammed Hussain Afroz-trained X Force overcame being drawn the widest of the 16-runner field and transferred his excellent dirt form to the grass to win the1200m Thoroughbred Open Sprint Cup for four-year-old+ by half a length under jockey Szczepan Mazur.
