(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
The Peninsula
Doha: All eyes will be on Paris, today, where the final day of the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe weekend will be held at ParisLongchamp Racecourse.
All nine races of the day are expected to be extra thrilling, especially the Gr1 PA Qatar Arabian World Cup and the Gr1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. The latter boasts prize money of €5m, which is the highest in the French racing programme.
The final day of the global racing weekend will be attended by many dignitaries and VVIPs, including HRH Prince Albert II, Prince of Monaco, who will be present during the trophy presentation of the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
ParisLongchamp hosted day one of the weekend yesterday with a nine-race card, including six group races.
President of the Asian Equestrian Federation and QREC Vice Chairman Hamad bin Abdulrahman Al Attiyah honoured the winners of Gr.1 Qatar Prix du Cadran landed by Kyprios.
Present at the ParisLongchamp and crowned the winners were H E Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Thani Al Thani CEO of the Qatar Media Corporation, Issa bin Mohammed Al-Mohannadi QREC Chairman, Hamad bin Abdulrahman Al Attiyah President of the Asian Equestrian Federation and QREC Vice Chairman, Dr. Ghanim bin Mubarak Al Ali Assistant Undersecretary of Culture Affairs of the Ministry of Culture, Ahmed bin Mohammed Alabdulmalik QREC Board Member, Abdulla Rashid Al Kubaisi, QREC Racing Manager and Ahmed Amanalla Al Sheebani, Director of QREC Support Services Department.
Illinois wins gamely the Qatar Prix Chaudenay
A top class colt, Illinois (Galileo) claimed his second Gr.2 victory when landing the QREC sponsored Gr.2 Prix Chaudenay at ParisLongchamp.
Owned by Derrick Smith, Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor and trained by Aidan O'Brien, Illinois confirmed previous good runs to win the 3000m contest.
Strongly fancied, The favourite Illinois, ridden by Ryan Moore, made all at a good pace. Niggled along from the false straight, The Irish-trained got headed by Trafalgar Square (Kendargent) just inside the final 300m but rallied gamely to win by two lengths. Trafalgar Square went second while Strassia (Kendargent) ran on for third.
Winning trainer said after the race:“He's lazy but he stays very well. He only does what he has to do. He ran a great race in the Leger last time, we were delighted with his run and this is a lovely race. We think he's going to be a lovely four-year-old”.
First Group 1 (PA) for Are'ej in the Qatar Arabian Trophy
The Gr.1 (PA) Qatar Arabian Trophy Des Juments, saw the YAS Horse Racing Management owned - Are'ej (Dariya) who came to this race on the back of a Gr.3 (PA) winner.
Trained by Xavier Thomas-Demeault who took the two Gr.1 (PA) yesterday at Saint-Cloud, the Purebred Arabian filly continued to improve and is now a Gr.1 (PA) winner.
With Alexis Pouchain in the saddle, Are'ej had to deal with the wide draw but managed to get a prominent position from a slow pace set by Sawarim (Munjiz).
Still not pressed on over 300m out, the improving filly showed good attitude when striding on for victory to win by one length. Mantahare (Af Albahar) ran a good race in second while the well fancied Normal Al Maury (Azadi) went third.
Illinois, ridden by Ryan Moore, won the QREC sponsored Gr.2 Prix Chaudenay.
Kyprios continues his stellar run
Winner of his last five starts, the six-year-old Kyprios (Galileo) landed the Gr.1 Qatar Prix du Cadran for the second time.
Owned by Moyglare, Magnier, Tabor, Smith & Westerberg, the top class colt is now an eight time Gr.1 winner and made it a double on the card for trainer Aidan O'Brien and jockey Ryan Moore.
Meanwhile, after a poor effort in the Gr.1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp when last seen, Ramadan (Le Havre) got back to his best to win the Gr.2 Qatar Prix Daniel Wildenstein.
The Nurlan Bizakov - owned is trained by Christopher Head, and was ridden by stable jockey Aurelien Lemaitre over the 1600m contest.
Grateful wins the Qatar Prix DE Royallieu
A winner of the Gr.3 Darley Irish EBF Stanerra Stakes earlier this year, the three-year-old filly Grateful (Galileo) carried on improving by winning the QREC sponsored Gr.1 Prix de Royallieu.
Owned by Magnier, Tabor, Smith & Westerberg, Grateful was running on soft ground for the first time and reversed the form with market leaders when sixth in the Gr.2 Qatar Lillie Langtry at Goodwood in August. The daughter of Galileo gave a four timer to trainer Aidan O'Brien and was ridden by Christophe Soumillon.
Grateful was patiently ridden at the rear of the peloton. With River Of Stars (Sea The Stars) sent for home at the end of the false straight, the Irish-trained filly began to make her move on the wide outside.
Momently short of room entering the home straight, the superb filly quickened well once in the clear to win by three quarter of a length. River Of Stars was second while Mistral Star (Frankel) went third.
Jayarebe proves tough in the Qatar Prix Dollar
Runner-up of the Gr.2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville on last start, Jayarebe (Zoffany) landed his first victory at Gr.2 level by winning the Qatar Prix Dollar.
Trained by Brian Meehan, the three-year-old had smart form in UK and came to this race with big ambitions from connections. Owned by Iraj Parvizi, the thoroughbred was ridden by Sean Levey.
Action at the ParisLongchamp yesterday.
Jayarebe made all at an even tempo with Calif (Areion) traveling on his outside. With the favourite Anmaat (Awtaad) challenging the long time leader, Jayarebe found more to win and beat the strong finisher Almaqam (Lope De Vega) by a head. Birr Castle (Cloth Of Stars) ran on for third.
The final and biggest day of this extraordinary weekend features a nine-race card with seven Group 1 races, making it one of the most important events on the world racing calendar.
These seven group 1s are the Qatar Arabian World Cup, the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, the Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère, the Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines, the Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac, the Prix De L'opera Longines and the Qatar Prix de la Forêt.
In addition to the day's racing, several Qatari events will be organised for the spectators and racegoers. These include activities by the Ministry of Culture. Visit Qatar will, through their booth, showcase postcards of Qatar and organise one raffle draw and the prize is one trip for two persons, including travelling on business class andfive-night accommodation in a five-star hotel.
Thrilling challenge among Arabians
The line-up is complete for the Gr.1 PA Qatar Arabian World Cup, which offers €1m as prize money. Eleven horses will go under starters orders including three representatives of Al Shaqab Racing: Edalbar, Nour Al Maury, who will be partnered by Qatari star jockey Faleh Bughenaim and the reigning Triple Crown champion Al Ghadeer, aiming for a second consecutive success.
They are facing a top-class field including multiple Gr.1 PA winner Al Doha, who will run in the colours of H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani, the recent winner of the Gr.1 PA Qatar Cup - Prix Dragon, Ch'Ezza who is owned by Abdulla bin Fahad Al Attiya and Moshrif, presented by Thomas Fourcy for Khalifa Bin Sheail Al Kuwari.
The Qatar Arabian World Cup is the second leg of the Doha Triple Crown, following the first leg, the Gr1 PA Qatar National Stakes which was run at Goodwood, and before the third and final leg; that is the Gr1 PA HH The Amir Sword, which will be run in Doha next February.
Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The official and final list of runners and jockeys for the 2024th edition of the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe have been announced. Sixteen runners will go under starters orders, including the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club Gr.1 winner Look de Vega who will run in the colours of Al Shaqab Racing.
He will be saddled by Carlos & Yann Lerner and ridden by Ronan Thomas. Having won the Gr 2 Qatar Prix du Neil, Sosieis now favouriteand will have Maxime Guyon on board for trainer Andre Fabre. Last year's winning jockey Cristian Demuro will try to pass the post in front for the third time with Zarakem.
Shin Emperor, the full brother to Arc 2022 winner Sottsaas, will try to score a first win for Japan in this race. Al Riffa will give trainer Joseph O'Brien his first ever runner in this Group 1.
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