The Peninsula
HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani presented HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani the Qatar Arabian World Cup Group 1 Pure Bred Arabian horses trophy following Ebraz’s victory in the Qatar Arabian World Cup (Gr1 PA) at Paris Longchamp yesterday.
Ebraz (Amer) gave HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani his fifth win in the Qatar Arabian World Cup (Gr1 PA), he is now the top winning owner in this race. Ebraz ridden by Maxime Guyon started as a favorite in this race, he is trained by Julian Smart and sat patiently down the field, with plenty of running.
In the straight he stormed down the track to take the lead from Al Shaqab Racing’s Khataab (Amer), trained by Thomas Fourcy and ridden by Jerome Cabre, who battled bravely and finished second three-quarters of a length behind his half-brother. The P. Collington-trained and Jean-Bernard Eyquem-ridden Mashhur Al Khalediah (Jalnar Al Khalediah) held on to third place almost a further length behind.
“It’s for days like this that we race”, commented the winning trainer Julian Smart.
“I am very lucky to train horses such as Ebraz for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed. That’s five wins now in this race, not bad at all! Ebraz won the (Gr1-PA). I don’t normally train horses that shine at that age. They tend to be at their best later. He has won the best race in the world at the age of 6 and we are dreaming of next year. We do expect Ebraz to follow the example of Gazwan and continue his excellence for one or two years,” he said.
Waldgeist denies Enable a historic treble in Gr 1 Qatar Prix De L’arc De Triomphe, HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani crowned the connections of Waldgeist with the trophy of the Gr1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe following the 5-year-old chestnut horse win the world’s best horse race, making it the race of the decade.
The champion mare Enable (Nathaniel) was attempting a record third victory in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr1), the best race in the world. A hundred meters from the line, she had taken the lead from her main rivals, Jockey Club (Gr1) victor Sottsass (Siyouni) and Japan (Galileo), winner of the Grand Prix de Paris (Gr1) and the Juddmonte International (Gr1).
Frankie Dettori and Enbale were hugging the rail and the wonder mare was battling bravely to line in the very testing ground, when the 5-year-old horse Waldgeist (Galileo), ridden by French champion jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot, who had been making up ground down the center of the track on the better ground, came to pass her inside the final furlong for victory in this legendary race.
Waldgeist is owned in partnership by Gestüt Ammerland and Newsells Park Stud. He is trained by the French magician, André Fabre in Chantilly. This was Fabre’s 8th Arc winner: a new record in this race.
Waldgeist has been an incredibly consistent horse at the highest level throughout his racing career, with as many as 9 victories – 8 of which are Group victories, of which 4 at came at Gr 1 level – and 5 places – all at Group level. He has never been out of the money in his thirteen-lifetime starts. His lifetime earnings now a total of €4,349,180.
Albigna wins Gr1 Qatar Prix Marcel B, the 2-year-old filly Albigna (Zoffany) ran out the authoritative winner of the opening race, the Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac (Gr1), on the Sunday of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe weekend. Trained in Ireland by Jessica Harrington for the Niarchos Family, who also bred her, the chestnut filly was winning the first Gr1 of her juvenile year. Marieta (Siyouni) finished in second by 2 ½ lengths, with Flightly Lady (Sir Percy) in third ½ length further back.
Victor Ludlum scores in Gr1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère sponsored by Manateq, the undefeated Victor Ludlum (Shamardal) flew home to mark a French-trained victory in the Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère Sponsored by Manateq (Gr1).
Villa Marina romps home to Gr1 win Prix De L’opera Longines
It was another Gr 1 victory for French-trained horses in the Prix de l’Opéra Longines (Gr1) when Villa Marina (Le Havre) came to snatch the win in the final strides.