1 November 2018, Doha, Qatar ~ In race day hightlights, Alban Elie Marie De Mieulle’s ward Diese (General x Divana) had not finished outside the top four for almost a year and continued that run, notching his third win in Qatar in a thrilling finish in the AL RUWAIS CUP (PA Handicap-90 & below) on Wednesday, 31 October 2018, season-opening race meeting at Al Rayyan Park in Doha.
In the 1900m feature on dirt, the Olivier Materne-owned colt with Ronan Thomas in the saddle, edged out the Hadi Nasser Rashid Al Ramzani-schooled Ehwaz (Munjiz x Cherazade), ridden by Tomas Lukasek, by a head, while Champion Trainer Jassim Ghazali Jahromi’s ward, AJS Wathanan (Amer x Mangaline Du Loup) narrowly finished third under Marco Casamento.
The PUREBRED ARABIAN HANDICAP (75 & below), one of the 11 races on the card, was topped by Bint Al Akaber (AF Albahar x Waad Fadi), saddled by Mohamed Khaled Elahmed. Ridden by Anas Al Seyabi in the colours of Subaiya Awad Ibrahim, the 7-y-o mare registered her second career win in Qatar, with the last one almost three years ago.
After making six attempts at registering his first win last season, Osama Omer Al Dafea’s Baker De Saularie (Kerbella x Babiche De Saulari) shed his maiden status on his first outing in the new season under Stephan Ladjadj, winning the 1700m PUREBRED ARABIAN MAIDEN PLATE.
In the first race of the day, the trio of Leading Owner Khalifa Bin Sheail Al Kuwari, Champion Trainer Jassim Ghazali Jahromi and Champion Jockey Harry Bentley opened with a victory in the new season’s first race with Legtaifiya (Mahabb x Lyvia) winning the 1200m PUREBRED ARABIAN MAIDEN PLATE (Fillies and Mares).
In a race for Qatari riders only, Rashid Ali Al Marri helmed the winner, TECHNICOLOUR (Dubawi x Many Colours) in the THOROUGHBRED HANDICAP (Class 5) (75 & below) event. Deborah Mountain’s ward raced to a dominant nine lengths and a quarter victory in the 1700m run.
~end supplied report