Qatar A Welcoming Host

By Emma Berry
There are some days when it’s tough being a racing and bloodstock journalist. Today is not one of them.
If fans of Thoroughbred racing don’t know much about the HH The Emir International Equestrian Sword Festival taking place in Qatar this week then they soon will. The St Regis Hotel in Doha is packed to the rafters with racing hacks of all nationalities, not to mention a number of leading trainers of similarly varied origins. After an early-morning start at Al Shahania Stud, I sought a quiet place on the terrace overlooking the Arabian Gulf to start this column and en route encountered my Newmarket neighbors William Haggas, Sir Michael Stoute and Luca Cumani during a short quest for a seat with a view. In the racing world, home is never too far away.

That said, the TDN has done a good job in keeping me away from home since the start of the year and so far I’ve done an equally good job of getting lost–first in Ireland, later in Normandy (where I spared the blushes of our locally based correspondent Alix Choppin by not mentioning that she as at the wheel as we tried unsuccessfully to find Haras de Bonneval). In the case of Qatar, I subscribe to the view that if you don’t know where you’re going in the first place then you can’t be lost. I’m also willing to believe that the driver of the happy bus of hacks wasn’t genuinely lost, merely choosing to show us the sights of downtown Doha despite the increasingly desperate urgings of the passengers to return to the hotel in time to change and head to the races.

In Newmarket, it’s perfectly normal behavior to be on horseback before breakfast. At Al Shahania, the fearless members of our party–including Stephen Wallis of the Jockey Club–opted for a camel ride around the courtyard during what can only be described as an early-morning feast. Some of us, especially those missing greyhounds at home, fussed the stable’s three Salukis, while others posed for selfies with falcons or were tattooed with henna.
While undoubtedly one of life’s truly memorable breakfasts–watched over by the bemused but lovely dish-faced mares from the stable doors of the stud’s breeding barn–this was just the sideshow to the order of the morning, which was a tour of the facilities at Al Shahania, some 45 minutes outside Doha (depending on the whims of your driver). The complex, surrounded by desert which is quickly being converted into vast office buildings and shopping malls as far as they eye can see, is a surprising green oasis which doubles as a stud farm and racing stable.

The original barn, which resembles a small palace and is wide, cool and airy, is home to a combination of 15 Arab broodmares, show horses and four stallions, including the one-eyed grey Aziz ASF, winner of the prestigious Emir Sword in 2012. Further similarly high-spec barns reveal a number of yearlings and 2-year-olds, though the bulk of Al Shahania’s yearlings are sent to France for their formative years, where the stud’s owner, HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani, also has Haras des Cruchettes in Normandy.

Towards the rear of the property, the grass paddocks give way to individual sand day-yards for each of the 40 horses trained on the property by Julian Smart. Turned out each day after morning exercise, the 38 Arabs and two Thoroughbreds–the latter sons of Authorized (Ire) and Duke Of Marmalade (Ire) respectively–look fit, relaxed and happy in small paddocks surrounded by palms. Despite the presence of a canopy in each of the yards, once the Qatari summer arrives it’s too hot for the horses, who then switch to being stabled in the air-conditioned barns by day and out in the open air by night.

“I love to keep the horses out as much as possible,” said 44-year-old Smart, an Englishman by birth, but one who learned the ways of the racing world in Canada and America before training in the Gulf, first in Abu Dhabi then Oman. He is now in his sixth season in Qatar.

He added, “It works especially well for Arab horses. Perhaps Thoroughbreds are a little more used to being stabled for longer periods but the Arabs are more complex and really seem to benefit from being turned out.”

The deep sand training tracks and paddocks of the racing stable are a far cry from Lambourn, the English training center at which Smart’s horses are stabled in the summer for the European Arab racing season. But two very important members of the team, doubles of which could be found in almost any British racing stable, belie the trainer’s roots and follow him wherever he goes: Jade the Labrador, who greets visitors with a soggy coat after her morning swim in the equine pool, and Bobby the Jack Russell terrier.

Qatar’s eight-day equestrian festival culminates in three days of racing at Al Nayyan Racecourse, each featuring a mixture of nine Arab and Thoroughbred races. With the Qatar International Cup and Trophy to come on Wednesday, followed by the Emir Sword and Trophy, Tuesday’s fixture brings a first for the country with the Italian-born duo of Luca Cumani and Marco Botti becoming the first British-based trainers to saddle runners at the meeting with Golden Steps (Fr) and Mission Approved (GB) lining up for the Qatar 2022 Invitation Cup. Neither horse troubles the judge as the domestic Group 3 contest falls to the fast-finishing 8-year-old Roi De Vitesse (Ire) (Chineur {Fr}) for owner Mohammed Marhan Jamsheer and trainer Ali Jan.

As dusk falls, the large party of foreign visitors are ushered back to the hotel for the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) gala dinner. In less than 24 hours, the QREC, which has the Emir, HH Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, as its patron, has already proved to be the most welcoming host. In its 40th anniversary year it has attracted an international guest list and has its two best days of the racing calendar still to come.