Ladjadj rides Peter Anders to smashing victory in feature

By Chris Hoover/Doha

Jalmud was the pace setter as the field set out for the 1,700 metres trip with Peter Anders settled in close second. Rounding the final turn, Peter Anders was urged to quicken by its jockey Stephen Ladjadj. The response was immediate and the Moghsen trainee picked up speed tremendously to go sailing clear to win with great ease.

Trainer Moghsen was elated with his first Cup victory of the season. “Peter Anders was simply superb today. He ran a great race and jockey Ladjadj also did well on the saddle. It is also nice to win a Cup race after a very long time,” trainer Moghsen told the Gulf Times.

Mohammed Hamad al-Attiya trained Daiyala had been a consistent performer and as such, she had a positive chance in local bred Pure Arabian Maiden Plate. The field appeared competitive with Al Mudamir, Al Azuur and Hshiyat also in the fray.

Jockey Marvin Suerland did a tidy job on Daiyala, who raced a handy second behind Al Mudamir as the field was dispatched for the 1,700 metres trip. The Attiya trainee surged ahead on turning for home and stretched away in fine fashion to win by a widening margin of five lengths. Al Mudamir held on to second place. Having entered the winner’s enclosure on her fifth outing, Daiyala is capable of another winning performance when saddled next.

Majid Safedden saddled Al Uraiq asserted his superiority with a brilliant victory in local bred Pure Arabian Restricted Stakes. After racing a handy second behind Barq Al Naif until the homestretch, jockey Stephen Ladjadj unleashed Al Uraiq who went sailing clear to win as he pleased.

In the day’s other action, Alban de Mieulle schooled  Qabas recorded a narrow win over Barq Al Uraiq in the Pure Arabian Handicap for horses rate 40 and below, which was open to Qatari jockeys and apprentices only. Though Qabas drifted out in the final stages of the race, Qatari jockey Yousef al-Hajri did well to steer the Alban trainee to victory. Barq Al Uraiq was gaining ground on the rails but Yousef was able to extract that much more from Qabas who finished strongly on the wide outside to pip the runner-up at the post.

Late Debate who had finished third to Chewdeh in his previous outing, recorded a facile win in the Thoroughbred Handicap for horses rated 50 and below. End Of Dreams found the winner too good and ended up a tame second while Affaire De Famille was a noteworthy third. Yanis Aouabed rode a confident race on the winner, which was trained by Jassim al-Ghazali.

Trainer Ghazali added another winner to his tally with the success of Ghalaa in the Thoroughbred Handicap for horses rated 50 to 70. Under the able riding of Gerald Avranche, Ghalaa sprouted a pair of wings in the final furlong and sped away from the rest to win quite comfortably. Mallak (Aouabed Astride) tried runaway tactics but could not match strides with the winner and had to settle for second place.