By Chris Hoover/Doha
Alban de Mieulle trained Raihan produced an electrifying burst of speed to win HH the Heir Apparent Sword, a Group I race for local bred Pure Arabians, which highlighted the races at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club yesterday.
Raihan had the race well sewn up before the other fancied runner Al Mujahaz could pounce on him. Though Al Mujahaz closed with a rush, the lead established by Raihan was too much to bridge. Aghshar also finished on impressively ending up third. Jockey Oliver Peslier rode a perfect race and gave Raihan an unhindered run and contributed significantly in the victory of the Umm Qarn bred champion.
There was no doubting Raihan`s class. However, he had run below par in the HH Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khalifa Al Thani Trophy on January 19, which was run over a mile. That put a question mark as to whether he had gone sour. Running in his pet distance of 2,200 metres, Raihan showed to be a different proposition altogether. After being held back in about the fourth position as Arkan Al Naif and Al Noor set the pace, Raihan showed up on the outside and then left the field flat footed in the final furlong to win from a late finishing Al Mujahaz. Damis’ aggressive finish enabled the Mieulle trainee to put it across his rivals in the 2,000 metres HH the Heir Apparent Trophy, a Group I race for Pure Arabians. Frenchman David Bouland was simply brilliant on the saddle on the winner. Damis had failed in his previous two essays but the seven-year-old progeny of Amer had maintained his zest and had a good forward run over 1,100 metres in Al Adaid’s win.
In his customary fashion, Asraa Min Albarq hit the front as the 12-horse field was dispatched from the gates. Stable mates Theeb and Aziz accompanied the front runner, while Bouland had Damis in a handy fifth position. Rounding the final turn, Asraa Min Albarq was finding it hard to maintain his supremacy under the sustained challenge of Theeb and Aziz. Even as he was busy wrestling with the duo, Damis exploded on the scene. The Amer progeny took off with fierce determination and produced a stunning effort which saw him sail past the front runners to win in style. Mu’Azzaz edged out Asraa Min Albarq for the second spot while Jaafer took the fourth place.
Trainer Mieulle who led in two classic winners for the day was mighty pleased with the performances of Damis and Raihan. “I am very pleased for Damis and Raihan and also for my jockey’s David and Oliver. David gave a brilliant ride on Damis and I am very happy for him. He needs victories like this to regain his confidence,” trainer Mieulle told the Gulf Times.
“Raihan is a very nice horse and he proved it today. He was running in a more suitable distance and he proved his class. Though the pace of the race was very slow, Oliver with his vast experience was upto the challenge and won well,” Mieulle added.
Yousef Bentaher saddled Amico Mio re-affirmed his class en route to a splendid success over Dubawi King in HH the Heir Apparent Trophy, a Group I race for Thoroughbreds. Amico Mio (David Badel up) was traveling so smoothly into the final furlong that Dubawi King was not able to overhaul the front-runner as he skipped away to record a comfortable win.
Jockey Badel was happy that Amico Mio which had failed in his three previous starts, finally came good in the all important race. “We had a couple of bad runs because we were giving weight in the handicap races, Today we were on level weights and Amico Mio was brilliant and won very well.”
In the day’s other action, Jassim al-Ghazali schooled Collect Art (Gerard Avranche astride) picked up speed in the final furlong to overhaul Val C to win the 1,100 metres Thoroughbred Stakes. Miss Faustina also came into contention but found the winner too good on the day. Miss Velocity took the third place ahead of Mdawee.
RESULTS
1st race: Collect Art (Gerard Avranche) 1, Miss Faustina 2, Miss Velocity 3, Mdawee 4. Won by: 1 ¾, Nk, Shd. Time: 1:04.26. Trained by: Jassim al-Ghazali. Owned by: Al Ghazali Stud
2nd race: Damis (David Bouland) 1, Mu‘Azzaz 2, Asraa Min Albarq 3, Jaafer 4. Won by: 1, 1, 1 ½. Time: 2:11.23. Trained by: Alban de Mieulle. Owned by: Umm Qarn
3rd race: Amico Mio (David Badel) 1, Dubawi King 2, Lancelot 3, Hunting Tartan 4. Won by: ¾, 1 1/2, 1 ½. Time: 2:14.15. Trained by: Yousef Bentaher. Owned by: Sheikh Nasser bin Abdullah bin Nasser al-Thani
4th race: Raihan (Oliver Peslier) 1, Al Mujahaz 2, Agshar 3, Raheel 4. Won by: ¾, Hd, Nk. Time: 2:30.48. Trained by: Alban de Mieulle. Owned by: Umm Qarn
