Sports Reporter/Doha
HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani owned Tabarak established his credentials as a top notch performer, while asserting his supremacy in spectacular fashion, beating a credible field, en route to lifting the Doha Cup at the Deauville race course on Saturday. This event was sponsored by Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club.Sporting the colours of Umm Qarn, Tabarak was ridden way off the pace as stable mate Divamer set the pace in the ten furlong race. As the race took a serious turn, Rathowan shot into the lead followed by Mkeefa, who surged ahead with a furlong to go. At this stage Tabarak came on to the scene with a smooth run and into contention.The driving finish of jockey Oliver Peslier enabled the Nizam progeny Tabarak to rally brilliantly from behind and edge past the front running Mkeefa to win by a neck. Mkeefa is owned by HH Shiekh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani and trained by Julian Smart. Another Qatari contender Rathowan, sporting the colours of Al Shahania Stud took the third place, while Boum De Ghazal, Dahash and Divamer took the fifth, sixth and eighth places respectively.Trainer Mieulle was impressed with the performance of Tabarak, which had earlier won the Derby Des Pur Sang for four-year-old Pure Arabians at the Chantilly race course recently. “This was an amazing performance by Tabarak. He is in tremendous form and I feel he is the best Pure Arabian in the international circuit at the moment. We are confident that Tabarak would be a serious contender in the Qatar Arabian World Cup on October 7 at the Longchamp racecourse.”