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Zohair Moghsen trained Peter Anders maintained his amazing progress to win the Wathnan Cup in splendid isolation yesterday on the sand track of the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club. The son of Pivotal, who had won his previous outing in splendid fashion, cantered home to win the feature event in fine style. |
One Cool Bex led the field as the starter dispatched the runners for the 1,900 metres trip, with Peter Anders in second position ahead of Ghostwriting and the rest. On entering the homestretch, jockey Stephen Ladjadj eased Peter Anders into the lead. Once shown the daylight, the Moghsen trainee sped away from the pack to win as he pleased. The Jassim Abdulaziz al-Boenain owned Peter Anders is in great condition and can carry the good form to obtain more success.
“Peter Anders is a brilliant horse who seems to relish the sand track. He is in fine form and has already won two cup races for me. We hope he can win us some more races,” Jassim Abdulaziz told the Gulf Times.
Jassim al-Ghazali saddled Al Mansoor showed glimpses of his old form when he came from a hopeless position with a brilliant late rally to surge ahead of stable mate Sharid in the dying moments of the race to win the Al Naama Cup, a local Thoroughbred Stakes race, which was the other added attraction of the day.
Manayer took the mantle of the pace maker, while Sharid raced in close attendance ahead of Al Mansoor. Rounding the final turn, Sharid moved up with a flourish to take charge and went sailing clear. Inside the final furlong, Sharid appeared home and dry. However, Al Mansoor (Gerald Avranche astride), as is his wont, found his bearing on the wide outside, and stormed home with a powerful run which enabled him to overhaul the front-runner in the shadow of the post. He won by half a length over his stablemate who in turn was well clear of the third placed Manayer.
Noor’s Goldway proved too good for the rest of the runners in the Thoroughbred Handicap for horses rated 50 to 70. The Ibrahim al-Malki trained son of Giant’s Causeway had finished last in his previous outing. Showing marked improvement on that run yesterday, in the hands of Mark Lawson, Noor’s Goldway hit the front from the start and brooked no opposition on his way to an easy win in a smart time of one minute 57.36 seconds.
Al Uraiq had worthwhile opponents in the 1,100 metres Pure Arabian Restricted Stakes, a race for horses rated 95 and below. The five-year-old bay horse Al Uraiq had control of the proceedings from the word ‘go’ and won quite capably over Al Nashat whose jockey showed some persistence towards the end to finish second. Jockey Darren Williams rode a confident race on the winner.
Jockey Sylvain Ruis’ driving finish enabled Vital Fauquey to overhaul Saint De Faust in the shadow of the winning post in the Pure Arabian Handicap for horses rated 40 to 70. Al Yarmouk who led the field from the start, ran out of steam at the home turn even as Saint De Faust took charge. Ruis brought Osama Omar al-Dhafa’s Vital Fauquet into contention with a power packed ride. A grueling battle ensued between Saint De Faust and Vital Fauquey, but it was the latter who got stronger at the finish and won by half a length. Shaklan, who struggled for speed and took his own time to gain momentum, came up on the scene too late for comfort and finished a close third.
Mohammed Khalid trained Al Aamash recorded a comfortable win in the local bred Pure Arabian Maiden. Jockey Adrie de Vries had Al Aamash race in mid bunch as Al Mudamir and Robbama set a fast pace for the nine furlong trip. Al Mudamir and Robbama were involved in a battle for supremacy as Vries unleashed Al Aamash on the wide outside. The Khalid trainee devoured ground in a trice and went sailing clear to win as he pleased.
Dutchman Vries took his second of the day when he drove out Mohammed al-Ramzani schooled Trompettiste to an emphatic victory in the Thoroughbred Handicap for horses rated 60 to 80. Ghalaa who took charge inside the final 200 metres could not hold on to the initiative as Trompettiste unleashed a powerful run to win with a great deal of comfort.
Down: QREC chairman Sheikh Mohammed bin Faleh al-Thani (right) presents a memento to Sheikh Ali bin Faleh bin Nasser al-Thani, under whose patronage the 3th day’s races were held at the QREC yesterday.