Wathnan Racing and trainer Alban de Mieulle ended the day as they began with Matawar remaining unbeaten on second career start with an impressive four-and-a-half length victory at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club’s Al Rayyan Racecourse on Thursday.
In the feature race of the day, the 1500m Graduation for three-year-old Local Thoroughbreds, claimed the Al Britha Cup and completed a double for jockey Soufiane Saadi and treble for de Mieulle. Abdulla Rashid al-Kubaisi, QREC Racing Manager, crowned the winners.
Earlier, Wathnan Racing’s Hadji was a brilliant one-and-a-half-length winner of the evening’s opener, the 1,500m Maiden for 4-6YO Local Purebred Arabians, as the 4YO colt, with Adnan Hawa in the saddle, made a successful debut for trainer de Mieulle.
In the penultimate race, carrying the colours of Al Rufaa Racing, Ateej was another 10-year-old winner this evening. Trainer Gassim Ghazali saddled him to get back to winning ways quickly and win the 1,200m Handicap (80-100) for four-year-old+ Purebred Arabians with jockey Anas al-Seyabi steering the bay horse to a half-length victory.
The Abdulaziz Ali al-Kathiri-owned Inherent bounced back to winning ways quickly in the Handicap (0-90) for four-year-old+ Thoroughbreds. The Zuhair Mohsen-trained six-year-old proved the best of the bunch in the 2,350m affair, as he prevailed by two and a half lengths in the hands of jockey Ronan Thomas.
The Nasser Owaida Salem al-Hajri-owned Geno finished runner-up on his last two races, but went one better this time in the 1,750m Handicap (60-80) for three-year-old+ Thoroughbreds, as jockey Abdulla Rashid al-Hajri rode the 110-year-old gelding to take the race by half a length for trainer Owaida Salem al-Hajri.
The 1750m Novice for four-year-old+ Purebred Arabians saw Wathnan Racing’s Hazal gain a deserved success, having finished placed on her previous four starts. The five-year-old mare saw off her rivals by a length under jockey Soufiane Saadi, giving trainer Alban de Mieulle a second winner this evening.
In the second race of the evening the 1,400m Handicap (0-70) for three-year-old Thoroughbreds went the way of the trainer-jockey combination of Hamad al-Jehani and Arnaud de Lepine, as War Effort, who is also owned by the winning trainer, hit the line a length ahead of his rivals.