By Chris Hoover/Doha
Mohammed al-Sulaiti trained Dahash asserted his superiority with a facile victory in the Doha Cup, a local bred Pure Arabian Stakes race, which featured yesterday’s races at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club. Though there were a couple of strong contenders in the fray, Dahash gave no anxious moments to his supporters as he checked in well clear of his opponents under the able riding of Italian saddle artist Pier Convertino, who timed his challenge to a nicety and sped away from the pack to win by one and a quarter length. The driving finish of Qatari jockey Yousef al-Hajri enabled Arkan Al Shahania to ward off the spirited challenge of Jezla to land the spoils in the 1,200 metres local bred Pure Arabian Handicap for horses rated 0 to 40. Though Jezla (Pier Convertino astride) posed a serious threat, Yousef was upto the challenge as he rode the Hassan al-Matwi trainee with all the resources at his command to win by half a length. The fleet-footed Walfa produced a sparkling run in the homestretch to assume command and dictate the terms of the race in the Thoroughbred Handicap for horses rated 0 to 50, to give its rider Yousef his second win of the day. Yousef who had impressed with a double earlier this month had an arm chair ride on the Mohammed Khalid schooled Walfa who made it a one-horse race as he ran away from the rest to win by a widening margin of nine lengths.
Tameh from the staboles of trainer Ibrahim al-Malki, recorded an exciting victory in the Pure Arabian Maiden Plate. Tameh was ridden to victory by Lawson, who kept at bay the challenge of El Zouarda.Vetvey (Adrie de Vries up) and Racer Forever 9Marvin Suerland astride) fought a grueling battle before the former prevailed by half a length in the Thoroughbred Stakes.
Results: 1st race: Tameh (M. Lawson) 1, El Zouarda 2, Ninawa 3, Akhtab Al Naif 4. Won by: ¾, 9, 1 ½. Time: 1:18.00. Trained by: Ibrahim al-Malki. Owned by: Ibrahim Saeed al-Malki2nd race: Arkan Al Shahania (Yousef al-Hajri) 1, Jezla 2, Endefa 3, Bahr Al Zaidy 4. Won by: ½, 1 ¼, 1 ¾. Time: 1:18.38. Owned and trained by: Hassan Ali Hassan al-Matwi3rd race: Walfa (Yosef al-Hajri) 1, Fully Armed 2, Dontbugthebunny 3, Benmalik 4. Won by: 9, Hd, 2. Time: 1:10.08. Trained by: Mohammed Khalid. Owned by: Saoud Abdulatif Saad al-Muslimani4th race: Vetvey (Adrie de Vries) 1, Racer Forever 2, Honest Prospector 3, Logos Astra 4. Won by: ½, 3 ½, 2 ½. Time: 1:43.83. Trained by: Jassim al-Ghazali. Owned by: Khalid bin Mohammed Khalid al-Ghanim5th race: Dahash (Pier Convertino) 1, Arkan Al Naif 2, Mogida 3, Thumal Al Naif 4. Won by: 1 ¼, 4, 1 ½. Time: 1:54.30. ained by: Mohammed al-Sulaiti. Owned by: Essa Mohammed al-Sulaiti