Racing festival underway in Qatar

After five days dedicated to shows of pure-bred Arabian horses, the focus at H.H. The Emir 24th International Equestrian Sword Festival turns to horse racing on Tuesday. At a press conference held in Doha Monday, Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club General Manager Sami Jassim Al Boenain welcomed local and international media and said, “We have some very exciting racing to look forward to over the next three days and competition, especially in the international Thoroughbred races, will be tough. We are very grateful to our sponsors who support our events here in Qatar and France and also around the world, the partnerships we have formed with them are very important to us.” Sponsors include oil and gas companies Total and Qatar Petroleum, while the partnership with Longines notably includes the prize for the Competition of Elegance. The three days of racing will see a combined prize money offer in excess of QR25 million ($6.8 million), and is headed by the running of [local G1] H.H. The Emir’s Trophy on Thursday. 

British-based trainer Marco Botti is set to have his first runner in Qatar when Golden Steps (Fr) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) lines up for Tuesday’s joint feature, the [local G3] Qatar 2022 Invitation Cup, which also sees Al Shaqab principal jockey Frankie Dettori renew his partnership with Luca Cumani who sends out Mission Approved (GB) (Dansili {GB}) in the 1200-meter turf event.  Cumani could also be represented in the following day’s [local G2] Qatar International Cup in which Ayaar (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) is among four reserves.

Dettori is also poised to be on board Dubday (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), bidding for back-to-back victories in H.H The Emir’s Trophy, and commented at a press conference Monday, “Racing in Qatar is very competitive. It’s a sharp track and the straight is only 400 meters so getting a good position early on is very important.  Dubday is unbeaten in Qatar, he and I have every confidence that Jassim [Al Ghazali] has got him spot on but it will be a competitive race.” Tariq Al Siddiqi, Deputy General Manager of Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club and Director of Racing said, “The track is in very good condition and we are looking forward to welcoming many of the highest-rated horses. There is prize money of QR3 million ($823,847) for the H.H The Emir’s Sword and we are expecting some very competitive racing.”