Sports Reporter/DohaThe Qatar International Equestrian Festival, a high point in Qatar’s sporting and social calendar, has established a new record this year, even before the horses are flagged off. Announcing the programme for the QIEF, QREC chairman HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Faleh al-Thani, exuded confidence that the eight-day event would be a huge success and said that all preparations are in place to host the blue riband of the season.The QIEF has set new standards in terms of stake money being offered to the winners. A total prize money of QR 10.3 million is at stake during the eight-day event. This is a record for the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, which has raised the stake money by a further QR 3.4 million for this years edition of the QIEF.Following this initiative taken by QREC, the three-days of races from February 28 to March 1 will have QR 8.7 million on offer to the winners. HH The Emir’s Sword for Pure Arabians tops the list with QR 2 million, closely followed by HH The Emir’s Trophy for Thoroughbreds with QR 1.5 million. HH The Emir’s Trophy for local bred Pure Arabians is another with a offer of QR 1 million in prize money.The Gulf Cup (QR 500,000), Qatar 2022 Invitation Cup (QR 700,000) and Qatar International Cup (QR 800,000) have also become more lucrative to the contestants.“QREC is ready to host the QIEF in a very special way as an expression of the Qatari equestrian community’s gratitude and appreciation of HH the Emir’s support for sports in general and the equestrian sport in particular. Thanks to this huge support, the equestrian sport is enjoying its most successful time. Racing has been developed remarkably in terms of both international classification and quality of Pure Arabian and Thoroughbred horses,” Sheikh Mohammed said.The total purse for the QIEF is a whopping QR 10.38 million, which puts the prize money at an all time high. The three-day’s races will see stakes and prizes in excess QR 8.7 million, an unprecedented landmark in the history of racing in Qatar.“We are very happy to raise the stakes as we have seen in the recent past that the quality of races has improved vastly. It is only right to provide the added incentive so that more and more top class horses get to race on Qatar race track,” Sheikh Mohammed added.“I would like to thank HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Special Advisor to the Emir HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani for their continued support. The development that has been done since the past few years is quite visible. With their support Qatar racing can reach new heights and we are confident that we will soon witness Qatar becoming a major racing centre in the world.”In a positive initiative, the QIEF has been expanded to incorporate HH The Emir’s Sword and Trophy races, adding more glamour to the event. “The highlight of this Festival will be HH The Emir’s Sword and Trophy races and we believe that this festival will further grow in the future. This is going to be the biggest festival ever held. It can only get better from here and we are confident that we will take Qatar Equestrian sport to a new level.” A total of 22 cars are also on offer to the winners. Eight cars will be presented to the winners of the Arabian Horse Show and the rest will be given away to the winning owners, trainers and jockeys at the races.Mercedes Benz will be the official car for the event. An agreement in this regard was signed by QREC chairman Sheikh Mohammed bin Faleh al-Thani and NBKS chairman Sheikh Nasser bin Khalid al-Thani on Wednesday.