A month after he shed his maiden status with an imperious run in a six-furlong race, Sheail bin Khalifa al-Kuwari’s Black Beach faced his first real test and came out on top winning the Marmi Cup, a Class 1 race for three-year-old thoroughbreds on the dirt at Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club here yesterday.

Gerald Avranche rides Black Beach to win in the Marmi Cup at the QREC yesterday.
(RIGHT) QREC GM Nasser Sherida al-Kaabi presents a memento to Qatar Society of Al Gannas deputy president Mohamed Abdullateef al-Misnad yesterday.


The Jassim Ghazali-schooled colt, with Gerald Avranche at the helm, beat the Ibrahim al-Malki-trained duo of Shaka Zulu and Ediye by half-a-length for his second win on Doha dirt.
The win was third on the day for champion trainer Ghazali, while al-Malki also had three winners in the nine-race card.
Aqdaar, running for al-Malki, picked up his first win of the season when the three-year-old colt won the Class 3 Thoroughbred Handicap event under Adnan Hawa.
At the post in the six-furlong race, Aqdaar had no challenger finishing five lengths ahead of Majed Seifeddine-trained Adulation and Injaaz Stud’s Adulation.
Khalifa bin Sheail al-Kuwari’s Samjida picked up her first win since April last year in style when the four-year-old was ridden to a four-length victory by Alberto Sanna in the Purebred Arabian Handicap event for four-year-olds and older rated 90 and above.
The Majd Al Arab filly, trained by Ghazali, beat Al Wasmiyah Farm’s Amer horse Jelmud and Zakhir Stud’s Zameer.
The six-furlong Class 5 Thoroughbred Handicap event for horses rated 55 to 75 was divided into three runs with 12 runners in the first and 13 in the other two.
The first run was won by Rashid Khamis Sail al-Kuwari’s New Hope, picking up his first victory in Doha, ahead of Dhafi al-Marri’s Chess Valley and Dubawi Coast.
Abdulaziz Ali al-Qhathiri’s Stolen Story emerged winner in the second run. The three-year-old colt, who had finished last in December’s Qatar Derby Trial, was running on the dirt for the first time in Doha. Marco Monteriso rode the Kodiac colt to victory ahead of Sylvia Pankhurst and Scuttler.
Hassan al-Matwi’s Incredibile was the fastest in the three runs, beating Ghazali-trained Gathurst by three lengths while Zuhair Mohsen’s charge Rijm was third.
Khalifa bin Sheail al-Kuwari’s Muraqabah not only gave Ghazali his first win of the evening but also to shed her maiden status on her third career outing.
In the seven-furlong race for four-year-old Local Thoroughbreds, the Great Journey filly, who made her Doha debut in the Qatar Oaks in December, finished a length ahead of Raad Al Zaeem, while Mahbooba was third.
In the first race of the day, Sheikh Faisal bin Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani’s Meqdam Al Zaidy shed his maiden status on his second outing in the Local Purebred Arabian Maiden Plate event.
After a strong debut last month, when the five-year-old finished second in a 14-horse field, Ibrahim al-Malki’s charge was ridden to victory by Evert Pheiffer ahead of Al Jeryan Stud’s AJS Buraq and Umm Qarn’s Hijran.
Al-Malki’s second win of the day was with Al Taweel, who was raced to his second career victory by Pier Convertino in the Purebred Arabian Advanced Plate event.
The five-year-old gelding, owned by Saad Rabiah Saad al-Kaabi, finished ahead of Al Jeryan Stud duo Al Khattaf and AJS Fath Elkheir.
 
RESULTS
Race 1:
1. Meqdam Al Zaidy (Evert Pheiffer), 2. AJS Buraq (Ali al-Showeikh), 3. Hijran (Gaetan Faucon), 4. Ostorah Dukhan (Gerald Avranche). Won by: 1.5, 1.5, 1.5. Time: 1:20.27. Owner: Sheikh Faisal bin Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani. Trainer: Ibrahim al-Malki.
Race 2: 1. Al Taweel (Pier Convertino), 2. Al Khattaf (Gerald Avranche), 3. AJS Fath Elkheir (Ali al-Showeikh), 4. Intizaa (JP Guillambert). Won by: Hd, 1, 1. Time: 1:51.81. Owner: Saad Rabiah Saad al-Kaabi. Trainer: Ibrahim al-Malki.
Race 3: 1. Muraqabah (Stephan Ladjadj), 2. Raad Al Zaeem (Gerald Avranche), 3. Mahbooba (Marvin Suerland), 4. Akram (Pier Convertino). Won by: 1, Hd, 3. Time: 1:28.87. Owner: Khalifa bin Sheail al-Kuwari. Trainer: Jassim Ghazali.
Race 4: 1. New Hope (Alberto Sanna), 2. Chess Valley (Marco Monteriso), 3. Dubawi Coast (Yanis Aouabed), 4. Buy Art (Evert Pheiffer). Won by: 1.75, 0.75, 0.75. Time: 1:12.88. Owner: Rashid Khamis Saif al-Kuwari. Trainer: M.R. al- Kuwari.
Race 5: 1. Stolen Story (Marco Monteriso), 2. Sylvia Pankhurst (Adnan Hawa), 3. The Scuttler (Gaetan Faucon), 4. Pipe Bomb (Adrie de Vries). Won by: 1, 0.5, Nk. Time: 1:12.55. Owner: Abdulaziz Ali al-Qhathiri. Trainer: A al-Qhathiri.
Race 6: 1. Incredibile (Brett Doyle), 2. Gathurst (JP Guillambert), 3. Rijm (Marvin Suerland), 3. Arriana (Gerald Avranche). Won by: 3, 2.5, Hd. Time: 1:12.17. Owner: Hassan Ali Hassan al-Matwi. Trainer: Hassan al-Matwi.
Race 7: 1. Samjida (Alberto Sanna), 2. Jelmud (Almotasem al-Balushi), 3. Zameer (Adrie de Vries), 4. La Hoor (Brett Doyle). Won by: 4, 1.5, 1. Time: 1:32.73. Owner: Khalifa bin Sheail al-Kuwari. Trainer: Jassim Ghazali.
Race 8: 1. Aqdaar (Adnan Hawa), 2. Adulation (Pier Convertino), 3. Ventura Shadow (Marvin Suerland), 4. Indaria (Almotasem al-Balushi). Won by: 5, Nk, Hd. Time: 1:11.36. Owner: Ibrahim Saeed al-Malki. Trainer: Ibrahim al-Malki.
Race 9: 1. Black Beach (Gerald Avranche), 2. Shaka Zulu (Cedric Segeon), 3. Ediye (Jean Baptiste Hamel), 4. Regality (JP Guillambert). Won by: 0.5, 5, 0.5. Time: 1:11.53. Owner: Sheail bin Khalifa al-Kuwari. Trainer: Jassim Ghazali.



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