Al Shaqab Racing’s Karar wins Prix du Pin in Chantilly

Al Shaqab Racing’s Karar was the wire-to-wire winner in the Prix du Pin (Gr3) at Chantilly on Sunday.The Francis-Henri Graffard-trained five-year-old, who was coming off a second place at Clairefontaine, accelerated well in the straight under Gregory Benoist to win smartly ahead of Empire Of The Star and Dame Du Roi. This was the first success at Group level for Karar, whose previous best performance was over the same course and distance (seven furlongs) when he finished second in the Qatar Prix de la Forêt (Gr1) last year.“He has to be able to run the way he wants. I prefer to run him on good ground as it suits his action. I think that he will run in the Qatar Prix la Forêt (Gr1). If he gets his way in front, he could run well. 1,400m is his distance and on his last start at Clairefontaine (2nd) he was a bit too fresh,” Graffard said after the race.