Training in Qatar

TRAINING IN QATAR 
By Michele MacDonald 
    With Qatar’s three premier days of racing beginning on February 25 and completing the week-long International Equestrian Sword Festival on February 27, the whispers seem to be everywhere. 
People do not tend to speak loudly or rapidly in Qatar, but with the nation’s rising influence in racing worldwide, their soft words have increasing clout. And what they are saying is that a new racetrack–one that will stand out in a world full of racetracks–is being planned for the greater Doha area. 
    The vision for the new racing facility is generally attributed to Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, brother of HH Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani, the reigning emir and patron of the international festival. Sheikh Joaan has quickly become a powerhouse in racing as the owner of last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) winner Treve and other Group 1 winners Toronado and Olympic Glory; all three horses made the top ten on the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for 2013. 
    “He wants the track to be for the world–and for the world to come here,” said Abdulaziz Al Fuhaid, an executive with the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club who manages the registration of racehorses in the country, explaining that high-level sports help promote the country. 
    So far, not many details have filtered out about what might be envisioned, but if the way current horse sports are conducted in Qatar is any indication, the result will be impeccable. 
One Qatari racing insider predicted confidently that the new track “will be better than Meydan,” the monolithic racetrack opened in Dubai in 2010. 
    Getting a glimpse of some of the current racing facilities in Qatar, particularly at the gated entrance to the racing part of the sprawling Racing and Equestrian Club, gives a visitor the impression that what already exists is both traditionally beautiful in this Arabian land as well as practically functional. The racetrack is, after all, named Al Rayyan Racecourse, with Al Rayyan meaning “gate of paradise” in Arabic. 
Currently, as many as 900 racehorses are based here, including the Purebred Arabians that compete in races. However, with Qatari owners increasingly buying and racing Thoroughbreds, more than half of the runners stabled in the peaceful backstretch area are said to be Thoroughbreds. 
    There are dirt and turf tracks here, not a synthetic surface like the one found at Meydan that has proved problematic for many American-based runners who have traveled to compete on the G1 Dubai World Cup program. All the best races during Qatar’s season, which extends from October to May, are run on grass, however. 
The most recent information made available by the Asian Racing Federation (ARF), of which Qatar is a member, shows that there have been about 60 days of racing annually with slightly over 400 races run in a season. 
    “Horse racing has always been part of the Arabian culture and the Qataris have been racing their horses for centuries,” states the ARF website section on Qatar. 
    Total prizemoney in the annual racing program has reached US$11 million, while the number of licensed owners was 145 in the most recently reported figures. Six international races for Thoroughbreds were listed, highlighted by the US$560,000 HH The Emir’s Trophy over 2400 meters (about 1 1/2 miles) on grass, with this year’s running set for February 27 along with the companion US$560,000 HH The Emir’s Sword for Purebred Arabians at 2400 meters on turf. 
Many of the horses that are based in Qatar to race have been imported from Europe and do not go back again but rather stay in the Middle East to complete their careers. There also are a number of American-breds competing, including Chaperno, a More Than Ready gelding, and Sandy’s Row, a Street Cry filly, both in the fifth race on February 25, a 1600-meter (about one-mile) handicap. Sandy’s Row was bred by Darley, while Chaperno competed for Godolphin, so both have a connection with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum of Dubai. 
    Of course ,the American-bred star of the February 25 program is the now nine-year-old gelding Force Freeze, a son of Forest Camp who was second in the 2011 G1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. He will compete in the Qatar 2022 Invitation Cup, a local G3 race over 1200 meters (about six furlongs) on turf and will be joined by Abeer, a mare by Shamardal bred in Kentucky by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum’s Shadwell Farm, and 14 others in the race. 
There also are races for Qatari-bred horses, with 16 lined up for a conditions race over 1850 meters on grass on February 25. The Asian Racing Federation reports that there are about 65 Thoroughbreds foaled each year in Qatar, with 20 stallions currently at stud and just a little less than 100 mares. Fifteen stud farms are listed. 
Many of these numbers are bound to leap ahead when the new racetrack takes shape, although desert conditions are not ideal for breeding farms, despite the fact that most barns are air conditioned in Qatar. 
Regardless, the Qataris record of quickly remaking their landscape with sparkling new buildings and thriving businesses shows that much could happen. 
   Modern racing began as recently as 1975, when a starting gate and photo finish system were used for the first time. In 1991, a new racetrack was built and existing public facilities upgraded, and just three years later in 1994 another track was built. Al Rayyan, which includes a veterinary hospital and horse swimming pool on its grounds, was constructed in 2001. 
    Few other racing nations have come so far, so fast. And Qatar and its driving forces, including Sheikh Joaan, really are just beginning.