(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) management, led by chairman Issa bin Mohamed al-Mohannadi, is gearing up for a brand new season of exciting horse racing as the action shifts to the Al Rayyan racetrack starting today.
Preparations continued after the start of the new season was postponed due to the heavy rains across Doha last week. The new season is expected to be rich with thrilling racing, fulfilling QREC's vision and strategy of enhancing Qatar's excellent standing in the horse racing world and maintaining the remarkable reputation of Al Rayyan Park.
The Al Ruwais Cup Day, originally the third meeting in the official programme, will kick off the 2018-19 season today.
With a mix of sprints and middle distance races on dirt, the eight-race card should be the perfect meeting to get the horses, the trainers and the jockeys going. The races of the first and the second race meetings will be distributed throughout the season appropriately in terms of horses and distances.
The feature race, for Purebred Arabians, carries a total prize money of QR100,000 while the three maiden races have a prize pot of QR45,000 each and the other four races ranging between QR50,000 and QR60,000.
The Late Rabiah Saad Al Kaabi Cup Day will follow on turf tomorrow. The card will include as many as 11 races after having added two races, both from last week's second race meeting.
The new season includes some prestigious international races, culminating with HH The Amir's Sword Festival, which will be held in February 2019.
The two USD 1million features —HH The Amir's Trophy (Gr1) for Thoroughbreds and HH The Amir's Sword (Gr1 PA) for the Purebred Arabians — are the highlights of the three-day flagship festival.
The HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani Trophy Day is also scheduled for December 2018 while the HH Sheikh Abdulla Bin Khalifa Al Thani Cups and Trophy Day, and the HH The Emir's Sword Trials Day will be held in January 2019.
The Qatar Oaks, the Derby and The Late Sheikh Jassim Bin Mohammed Al Thani Trophy (Qatar National Day Trophy) meetings will be held in December 2018, while the Qatar Gold Sword and the Qatar Gold Trophy Day will be held in April 2019.
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