DOHA: Julian Smart-trained Taraf yesterday galloped to Qatar Gold Sword triumph as jockey B Doyle celebrated victory in the feature race at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) where racing legend Frankie Dettori won the Qatar Gold Trophy in race seven.
Taraf outpaced stable-mate Haashed to the winning post as Doyle picked up the top prize of QR885,000 in the 2,200m marathon at QREC.
Kassam, ridden by J P Guillambert, finished exactly two-and-half lengths behind the day’s winner, who topped the 13-entry race with a time of 2:26.27. Haashed, ridden by Marco Monteriso, finished a length behind Taraf.
Racing legend Dettori brought cheer to the Jassim Al Ghazali camp by guiding Dubday, who won the Derby on his Qatar debut last season, to victory in the 2,200m turf race.
Dubday, currently the highest-rated thoroughbred trained in Qatar, finished the race with a time of 2:14.33. Ponfeigh, ridden by Liam Jones and trained by Debbie Mountain, finished second.
Y Bentaher-trained Amico Mio — who had Monteriso in the saddle — finished in third spot.
Earlier, Dettori warmed up with a win in race two, sealing victory with Archers Prize which was trained by Z Mohsen.
Blackdown Fair, ridden by Gary Carter, finished second, while Under The Radar, who had Harry Bentley in the saddle, ended in third spot in the 1600m race.
Also yesterday, Raddad was a convincing winner in the Qatar Gold Trophy as jockey Asad Al Seyabi celebrated a rare win in the 2,000m race.
Trained by A Marzooqi, Raddad clocked a time of 2:10.81.
Al Majh’Hoor, ridden by Doyle, finished second while Al Anga, who had W J Lee in the saddle, finished in third spot.
In other winners yesterday, Stephan Ladjadj won race one and five while popular British jockey Bentley clinched races three and four.
Yesterday’s feature race event was the precursor to the blue riband of the season, The Emir’s Sword set to be stage at the end of this month.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani-owned Assy (Amer-Margouia) was the winner of the ExxonMobil Qatar-sponsored Qatar Gold Sword in 2014.
ExxonMobil were the official partners of the Qatar Gold Sword race yesterday also.
“ExxonMobil Qatar and QREC share a long and fruitful partnership,” Sheikh Mohamed bin Faleh Al Thani, Chairman of the QREC, said. “We thank ExxonMobil Qatar for its ongoing support for horse racing in Qatar, which serves to strengthen and protect a sport fostered by our forefathers,” he added.
“It is our hope that events like the prestigious Qatar Gold Sword Race further elevate the status of horse racing excellence not only in Qatar, but also throughout the region and around the world.”
ExxonMobil Qatar shares Qatar’s view that elevating the country’s status in the international sports arena helps highlight opportunities for long-term investments in the country and further strengthens Qatar’s role as an international business and investment hub.
Events like The Emir’s Sword, Qatar Gold Sword Race, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open tennis event, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup add prominence to Qatar’s position in the global sports arena.
Racing resumes next week on February 11 and 12.
THE PENINSULA
