DOHA: Lupie battled to a deserving Mesaimeer Cup win on a day when popular British jockey Harry Bentley stole the limelight with six consecutive winners at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) here.
Ridden by Stephan Ladjajd, Lupie edged Victory Laurel and Sandbetweenourtoes to nail the win in the feature race at the QREC as trainer Jassim Al Ghazali celebrated an astonishing eighth win of the day.
Clocking a time of 1:09:34, Lupie powered to victory in the 1200m dirt track race. Alberta Sanna was astride Victory Laurel while Bentley’s six-race win streak was snapped in the feature race when he finished third with Sandbetweenourtoes.
Earlier, Bentley guided Al Ghazali-trained Al Hareth to victory in the Ras Laffan Cup. Al Hareth clocked a time of 2:02:69 in the 1900m race.
Absher, ridden by Marco Monteriso, finished one-and-a-half-lengths behind Al Hareth while Moaddie, who had Sanna in the saddle, topped the 13-entry race in third spot.
With just over a month to go in the 2014-15 season, Bentley said he could top the 100-mark in the remaining nine-race days.
“Yeah, great going,” Bentley said after his sixth win of the day. “On paper it is a race you should win. I thought he should win again,” he added.
“I have beaten some nice horses this season,” Bentley, 22, said. “He’s done well. The evening’s been great,” the Briton added.
Bentley has managed an astonishing 84 wins this season to go along with 47 second-place finishes.
“Yeah, it is possible,” Bentley said when asked about the possible century mark this season. “It’s realistic. It’s going to be hard but I will give it a go,” he said.
Trainer Al Ghazali said: “I always dream of winning all the races in a card and today I managed to see this happen.”
“After the sixth win, I felt that there was a chance to win all eight as we had a few strong contenders in the last two races. It is an amazing feeling to win all the races on the card. Bentley and Ladjadj did well to fulfill my wishes,” Ghazali said.
In race six, Bentley guided Rasi to win ahead of Al Khattaf, ridden by Marco Monteriso, and West De Faust, who had Evert Pheiffer in the saddle.
Minutes earlier in race five, Bentley was in the saddle when Saakhen topped the 1200m race ahead of Half Turn and Elastomer.
Saakhen finished half-a-length ahead of Half Turn, who was ridden by Gerald Avranche. Sanna guided Elastomer to third spot.
In race four, Bentley powered to victory with Khafouqi, who finished the 1200m race ahead of Naamah and Bony DesVialettes.
In race three, Bentley sealed his second win of the day when he guided Count Curlin to the finish line. First Peninsula — ridden by Ali Al Showeikh — and Mallak — ridden by So Golam — finished in second and third spots respectively. Bentley’s first win of the day was recorded with Akeed Misk who edged Lantern’s First and King of Doha to the top spot in the 1800m race.
Ladjadj picked his first win of the day with Istibdad in the 1200m opening race. Muhjah ridden, by Gaetan Faucon, finished second while Sanna, ridden by Al Taweel, finished third.
The riders return for today’s feature race at the QREC — the Loyalty Cup. Action starts at 4pm. THE PENINSULA
