Sunday 6th October, Paris ~ Qatar Arabian World Cup Sponsored by Qatar Pretroleum International
In a race led by Boum de Ghazal up until the start of the home straight, Mushrae was biding his time in the middle of the pack, then broke away in the false home straight and slipped onto the trail of the leading horses just before the home straight began.
At this moment, her jockey Christophe Soumillon, who has just won his second Group 1 race of the day, chose to follow Muntasar, who had risen to join the group of pacemakers a bit earlier. Winner of the Qatar Total Arabian Trophy des Poulains (Group 1) at Saint-Cloud, this time last year, Mushrae had already established his place at the top of his generation’s hierarchy. Trained by Pau-based Jean-Pierre Totain, he won dominance over his rival after a lively battle, with only a hair’s breadth between the two four-year-olds as they passed the post. This is a second Qatar Arabian World Cup win for his owner, Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed d’Abu Dhabi, who also won with Lahib in 2008.
Winning Race time: 2:17:36
1. Mushrae
2.Muntasar
3.Farraaha
4.Djet Taouy
5. Tabarak
And what they said:
Christophe Soumillon, Mushrae’s (1st) jockey said, “We really had a great race. I chose to follow the horse who would come second and so we managed to adjust in the last few metres.”
Pierantonio Convertino, Muntasar’s jockey (2nd) said, “The horse turned in a great performance but I’m disappointed we didn’t find a better way through in the last few hectometres. That cost us our victory.”
Ioritz Mendizabel, Farraaha’s jockey (3rd) said, “We started off at the rear before being able to follow the winner-to-be. In my opinion, she did very well to get third place.”
~end