By Rizwan Rehmat
DOHA: Roi De Vitesse relied on an explosive late surge to win the Qatar 2022 Cup after Dutch jockey Adrie De Vries posted one of his memorable victories at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) here yesterday.
Trailing My Sharona — ridden by J P Guillambert — and Izzthatright — which had Harry Bentley in the saddle — Roi De Vitesse produced explosive lung power to storm towards the winning post in the QR1m race.
Popularly known as the “Flying Dutchman”, De Vries cut into from the outside to first go past My Sharona and then slipped past Izzthatright to break hearts in trainer Jassim Al Ghazali’s camp, which celebrated four first-place finishes earlier in the day.
Roi De Vitesse, trained by Ali Janm, clocked a time of 1:10:90 as De Vries celebrated his win with a huge smile on his face.
“I don’t know how I did it,” De Vries said. “I will have to look at the photo-finish, I guess. I think I will definitely have a look at the replay,” the Dutch rider said.
“I can’t believe I won. The horse found that extra edge at the end and managed to go past the winning post. I am so happy. It was unbelievable that my horse managed to get out of the pack at the right time.
“I don’t know how he did it,” De Vries said.
Roi De Vitesse’s brave effort saw the end of an incredible run of form for Bentley and Al Ghazali, who combined beautifully to nail four victories, including in the Gulf Cup race.
Al Mujahaz lived up to his high billing yesterday by winning the Gulf Cup after a tense battle with Refaal as Bentley thrilled the Al Ghazali camp for the fourth time in the day.
One of the best Arabian horses in the region, Al Mujahaz produced his 10th win in 19 starts to take the 1600m race with a time of 1:44:80.
Ridden by Bentley, Injaaz stud-owned Al Mujahaz warded off a tense challenge from Refaal — ridden by Richard Mullen — to seal yet another impressive win when it mattered.
Maazouz — ridden by Gerald Avranche — finished in the third spot leaving Bentley plenty to smile about.
“Yeah, Jassim has done a great job with him,” Bentley said after the race. “He’s found his form and rhythm and to get back into form is special,” the popular British jockey said.
“It is a dream to get four wins on the opening day of the festival. I call it a fantastic start. I’ve had a great start to this week. I definitely got a great chance to get more,” Bentley said.
Mudhish, ridden by the experienced Oliveir Peslier, defied the odds by beating Edith Cowan and Double Look to grab the honours in the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing race.
Trained by A de Mieulle, Mudhish made it look easy though Edith Cowan — ridden by Gary Carter — provided stiff resistance but couldn’t hold out in the 2400m marathon as the Umm Qarn-owned four-year-old won by three lengths.
“It’s a nice horse. It starts slow. The track was good today. They have watered it well,” Peslier, the four-time winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, said after winning the race with a time of 2:31:66. Third-placed Double Look — trained by Mohammed Al Yaqout and ridden by Italian racing legend Frankie Dettori — failed to impress as the four-year-old finished three-and-a-half lengths behind Mudhish.
Earlier in race six, Upholland, ridden by Bentley, was stretched by Pupil in the 1,850m race as popular trainer Al Ghazali celebrate win number three at a sun-bathed QREC.
Owned by Al Ghazali and Sona, Upholland clocked a time of 1:51:86 to complete Al Ghazali’s 101st win of the season as the four-year-old topped the 16-entry race.
Pupil — ridden by Gaetan Faucon — finished second while Hymenaios, who had Mullen in the saddle, ended in the third spot.
In race five, popular trainer Al Gahzali teamed up with Bentley to celebrate his 100th win of the season when Sherston topped the field ahead of Substantiate and Go For Broke.
Bentley rode Sherston with remarkable ease to complete his win ahead of Substantiate, ridden by Mullen, and Go For Broke, who had William Lee in the saddle. Sherston clocked a time of 1.36.82 and finished three lengths ahead of Substantiate.
Minutes after his first win of the day, Marco Monteriso made it two wins out of two races as he rode West De Faust to victory in the 1400m run.
Trained by M Hussain, West De Faust left it really late as the five-year-old sailed past Al Taweel and Muhim for victory.
In race three, Charlie’s Wish produced a late surge with jockey Monteriso to nail the win ahead of Damascene and Capitan Jack.
Trained by S Ibido, Charlie’s Wish exhibited great lung power to nail the win with a time of 2:03.61. Damascene — ridden by Stephan Ladjadj — finished two lengths behind Charlie’s Wish.
In race two, Harir mounted a late surge past Harran to nail the win in the 1400m turf race. Harir, ridden by Dina Heggum, initially went on the outside of Harran but then quickly switched to the inside to complete an easy win.
Harir clocked a time of 1:31.93 to complete win by a margin of three lengths. Shaklan — ridden by Azhar Al Wardi — was third.
Earlier, Al Ghazali and Bentley kicked off proceedings with a convincing win with Rasi.
Rasi finished the 2000m race ahead of Kampanule De Ghazal, trained by Julian Smart and ridden by Mullen. Bint Al Akaber, ridden by Liam Jones, was third.
THE PENINSULA
