The Peninsula
H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani crowned the winners of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the winners of the Qatar Arabian World Cup at the ParisLongchamp racecourse yesterday.
H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, received the Prix de l’Opera Longines following the Gr1 victory of Place Du Carrousel in Al Shaqab Racing’s colours and joined ownership with Ballylinch Stud.
It was the second success for Al Shaqab Racing with Noor Al Maury winning the Qatar Arabian Trophy for Fillies at Saint-Cloud on Friday.
H H Sheikh Abdullah crowned Khalifa bin Sheail Al Kuwari, owner of Lady Princess, with the Qatar Arabian World Cup, following the champion mare’s victory in the iconic Gr1 PA Race. He also crowned Kirsten Rausing, owner of Alpinista, with the Gr1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, following the champion filly’s amazing victory in the world’s best horse race. Issa bin Mohammed Al Mohannadi, QREC Chairman was present during the trophy presentation ceremony.
Sheikh Joaan received the Prix de l’Opera Longines from Matthieu Baumgartner, Longines Vice-President for Marketing, following Place Du Carrousel’s success in Al Shaqab Racing’s colours and joined ownership with Ballylinch Stud.
Amazing Alpinista takes Qatar Prix De L’arc success
Now a six-time Gr.1 winner, Kirsten Rausing’s five-year-old mare Alpinista (Frankel) marked her place in the history books with a brilliant victory in the world’s most famous race, the Gr.1 Qatar-sponsored Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Taking on 19 rivals for the €5,000,000 showpiece, the beautiful grey was trained by seventy-four-year-old training legend Sir Mark Prescott and was ridden by Luke Morris, who has partnered Alpinista on all six of her Gr.1 wins. Unbeaten since April 2021, Alpinista has now won six Gr.1 races over 2,400m spanning across the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.
Lady Princess all class in Qatar Arabian World Cup
Heartbreakingly close to landing the same contest in 2021, the incredible pure-bred Arabian mare Lady Princess (General x Nacree Al Maury) carried the colours of her owner Sheikha Khalifa bin Sheail Al Kuwari to a ninth top-flight success by landing the Gr.1 (PA) Qatar Arabian World Cup at ParisLongchamp yesterday.
Masterfully handled by leading Arabian trainer, the French-based Thomas Fourcy, Lady Princess came into the race on the back of four successive victories at Gr.1 (PA) and stamped her place as one of the all-time greats in the Arabian racing sphere with her impressive success in the €1,000,000 Qatar sponsored contest at ParisLongchamp.
As is her style, Lady Princess was held up at the rear of the field by jockey Jim Crowley and travelled with sublime ease throughout the early stages of the 2,000m contest.
Still, in the last position on entering the straight, the six-year-od was angled out wide by Crowley and began to slide past the majority of her fifteen rivals.
Taking over inside the final 200m, Lady Princess quickened clear to score by a length and three quarters from the legendary Ebraz (Amer), with Diafar (Dahess) a further three lengths back in third.
Al Shaqab Racing-owned Place Du Carrousel wins Opera
Carrying the colours of Al Shaqab Racing, who share ownership with her part breeders Ballylinch Stud, the talented filly Place Du Carrousel (Lope De Vega) sprung a surprise to land the Gr.1 Prix de l’Opera Longines.
Second in the Gr.1 Prix Saint-Alary over course and distance earlier in the season and trained by Andre Fabre, Place Du Carrousel was amongst the outsiders for the sixteen-runner, 2,000m contest.
However, he galloped to a clear success under Mickael Barzalona and took the €285,700 first prize in the silks of Al Shaqab Racing.
Two-year-old Queen takes Abbaye
Leading from the start, Middleham Park Racing-owned two-year-old filly The Platinum Queen (Cotai Glory) produced a phenomenal effort to win the Gr.1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp Longines.
Receiving plenty of weight from all seventeen of her rivals, the supersonic juvenile became the first two-year-old winner of the 1,000m Gr.1 contest in over 40 years and was given a positive ride by leading jockey Hollie Doyle.
Despite being beaten on Nashwa (Frankel) just over 30 minutes previously, Doyle managed to regain focus and quickly got Middleham Park Racing-owned The Platinum Queen across to the rail on leaving the stalls.
Blitzing through the race, the filly held on by a short head to score from the Karl Burke-trained four-year-old White Lavender (Heeraat), with Coeur De Pierre (Zanzibari) a further neck back in third.
Belbek lands Qatar Jean-Luc Lagardere bravely
In the opening race on Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe day, the Manateq-sponsored Gr.1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere went the way of the Andre Fabre-trained Belbek (Showcasing), who landed a first Gr.1 contest.
In the colours of Khazakstan breeder Nurlan Bisakov, Belbek stepped up to 1,400m for the first time and fought bravely to land the Qatar-sponsored, €400,000 contest under an excellent ride from Mickael Barzalona.
Fahad Rashid Al Kaabi, CEO of the Economic Zones Company (Manateq) presented the trophies to the winners.
Blue Rose Cen takes Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac
Continuing a fantastic season for her trainer Christopher Head, the two-year-old filly Blue Rose Cen (Chruchill) was a mighty winner of the Qatar-sponsored Gr.1 Prix Marcel Boussac.
She stamped her authority inside the closing stages of the €400,000 Qatar-sponsored contest in the colours of her owner Yeguada Centurion Slu and under a confident ride from jockey Aurelian Lemaitre.
QREC Chairman Al Mohannadi presented the trophies to the winners.
Kinross too good in Qatar Prix De La Foret
In the final Gr.1 race on a sensational afternoon of racing, the five-year-old gelding Kinross (Frankel) carried the silks of his owner Marc Chan to success in the Gr1 Qatar Prix de la Foret, presented by the Education Above All Foundation (EAA).
A specialist at the 1,400m distance and now a five-time stakes winner, the Ralph Beckett-trained gelding took on nine rivals for yesterday’s €350,000 Qatar-sponsored contest and made it seven consecutive British-trained winners in the 1,400m race, under the saddle of Frankie Dettori.