Aspetar became His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani’s first homebred Thoroughbred Group 1 winner when he landed the Preis von Europa (Group 1) at Cologne yesterday.
Trained in England by Roger Charlton, the four-year-old gelding won by two and a half lengths in the mile and a half contest at the highest level.
He travelled very well throughout the race, and took the lead over two furlongs from the line, winning comfortably under an assured ride from jockey Jason Watson.
Amorella, owned by Tink Racing and trained by Markus Klug, finished runner-up under Martin Seidl, while Lukas Delozier rode Donjah, owned by Darius Racing and trained by Henk Grewe, to third.
Aspetar had already won at Group 2 level in the Grand Prix de Chantilly last June. He is by Al Kazeem and is out of Bella Qatara, who also ran in the colours of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani.