Al-Kuwari and Ghazali celebrate season on top

At this year’s HH The Amir’s Sword Racing Festival in February, the two million dollar features saw familiar names — The Blue Eye and Gazwan — lifting the big prizes.
It was a repeat of the 2016 edition with trainer Jassim Mohamed Ghazali taking the big prize in Thoroughbreds with Khalifa bin Sheail al-Kuwari-owned The Blue Eye and Julian Smart winning the Arabian feature with His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani’s Gazwan.
And just like that season, the end-of-season honours this time too went to the trio of al-Kuwari (with QR6.28mn in prize money), Ghazali (QR1.1mn) and jockey Harry Bentley (QR840,000).
While it was the fifth straight championship win for Ghazali and Bentley, it was second time that al-Kuwari topped as the Leading Owner.
“Everything happens at the right time. Our season was so good for us. I feel so great to be the leading owner in Qatar for the second time,” al-Kuwari, who had 49 wins from 364 runs this season, told Gulf Times.
“We had good winners; we had The Blue Eye coming back to form this season. He won HH The Amir’s Trophy. He had a bit of bad luck last year. We had Easter De Faust win the Silver Sword. I feel sorry for the horse Izzthatright, he is for Injaaz Stud, for coming second in the (Dukhan Sprint during the) Amir’s Sword (festival). He is one of the best sprinters in Qatar.”
Al-Kuwari palpably acknowledged his team including jockeys and trainer Ghazali among others.
“I would like to thank all the riders who rode for us. Among the big riders who rode for us are Oisin Murphy and Harry Bentley. (JP) Guillambert, (Pier) Convertino, and others also supported the team. I thank Jassim Mohamed Ghazali and Mohamed Jassim Ghazali, his son, for their hard work and training through the season.”
Ghazali, on the other hand, was ecstatic at having his team lead all the three standings.
“Start slow, finish big. I think it is one of the best seasons for me,” a grinning Ghazali said.
“There was a lot of pressure on me. It was a hard season. Alhumdulillah, my owner is the leader, I am the leader and my jockey is the leader; my team is the leader. This is the best feeling, to have my entire team as the leader in the club.”
The importance of winning big races is not lost on trainers, including Ghazali.
For instance, with some big winners, including Gazwan and Ebraz, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed and Smart were second in their respective standings from less than half as many runners as the leaders.
“The way I had set the programme for my horses, we were looking for step-by-step improvement and that is what happened with my horses peaking at the right time for the big races. At HH The Amir’s Racing Festival, I won seven races,” Ghazali said.
With the season in Qatar coming to a close, Ghazali is looking forward to a few weeks’ rest before getting on the road in Europe.
“Need some rest before we start the season again in Europe. We will go to the sale/auction to buy some new horses for the new season; some for the new owners, and some for those who have stayed with us for years now,” Ghazali said.
“Right now, we don’t have any intimation from the owners but I will be sitting down with them soon, now that the season here has finished,” he said, talking about his entries in Europe.
Making some shrewd buys is part and parcel of the game in horse racing. “Inshallah, we would be going to the July sale with the trainer Jassim Mohamed Ghazali. We are waiting for the new calendar, so we know what kind of horses we need. Horse like Jethjath that did well in HH The Amir’s Silver Sword and won the Qatar Silver Sword were picked up for 6000 euros from the sale in France,” al-Kuwari said.
“We are looking forward to the next season. We would like to wish a best of luck to all the other owners for the next season too.”