16 December 2015, Doha, Qatar ~
Umm Qarn’s ™ Thunder Struck (Majd Al Arab x Bonnett) trounced the opposition in a giant victory in the Qatar National Day Trophy Group II Pure Arabian contest run over 2,000m, the highlight of the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) racing on 16 December. The Alban de Mieulle-trained 5-year-old was ridden by Jean Baptiste Hamel. His win bested stablemate Naomi by five lengths leaving Raddad and Vetlana de Faust to come in third and fourth respectively. The USA-bred colt added this second first place to his 2015 record, both of them in December.
The second Arabian race for the evening, the Purebred Arabian Handicap was won by Intishare, owned by Injaaz Stud awith Stephen Ladjadj up. The Jassim Al Ghazali 4-yr-old colt finished one and a half lengths ahead of Tarek Al Mels. Khalfa was third and Heeytham came in fourth.
The opening race saw Enwa (Amer x Nassra) shed her maiden under jockey Richard Mullen. The Julian Smart trainee went into full gear in the final furlong to come home by a widening margin of six lengths. Second was Ablah II then Firdous for third and Fal Alkhair for fourth.
Smart went on to double for the day when Thabit (Mared Al Sahrax Saheel ASF) won the Local Purebred Arabian Novice Plate with Marco Monteriso astride for HH Sheikh Mohammed Biin Khalifa Al Thani. They took on Bint Al Akaber on in the stretch and kept the win away from fast- finishing Fiteen.
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