Al Shaqab horses landed four out of a total six gold medals in the Morocco International Purebred Arabian Horse Show, part of the Salon du Cheval, in El Jadida, Morocco, on Friday.
The 11th edition of the week-long equestrian event has Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) as the Platinum Sponsors.
As many as five horses by Al Shaqab, member of Qatar Foundation, had made it to the championship rounds of the horse show in the presence of some excellent competition from Morocco, Spain and France, only demonstrating their domination at Purebred Arabian horse shows.
Galliba Al Shaqab opened the day with a win among the Yearling Fillies, before Um Gariba Al Shaqab won gold among the two-three-year-old fillies.
Al Shaqab’s dominance continued among the mares too, with Aaida Al Shaqab winning the championship round.
Hagras Al Shaqab rounded up the medal haul with a win among the two-three-old colts, with Moroccan model and actress Leila Hadioui presenting the medals in this class.
Al Shaqab-bred Marsal Al Shaqab, owned by Le Haras Royal de Bouznika, emerged as the champion stallion.
Al Shaqab is a global leader: Sheikh Hamad bin Ali al-Thani.
Understandably, Al Shaqab’s Breeding and Show manager Sheikh Hamad bin Ali al-Thani was elated with these victories.
“Congratulations to the people of Qatar for these brilliant victories, which further confirmed Al Shaqab’s global leadership in this discipline,” he said.
“They also demonstrate Al Shaqab’s ability to dominate at international shows. We had only six horses in this show and we eventually won four champion titles as well as a bronze medal. Al Shaqab also did not participate in the Stallions or the Yearling Colts classes. Given these facts and the total number of the gold medals we have won, we can say our success in this Show has surpassed all expectations.”
Talking about the future, he said: “We will head to the USA to participate in an international horse show there. Our next stop will be the World Championship in France next month where we will participate with Fadi Al Shaqab in the Platinum Competition. We will work towards improving the quality of our breeding, which we, in Qatar, are already proud of, especially as the stallions champion title went to Marsal Al Shaqab.”
