Muneera, winner of Qatar Total Arabian Trophy Des Juments 1 in action in this file picture.
Doha: The Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe-associated events will commence today in Paris, under the partnership between the Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club (QREC) and France Galop, and will continue until the big day on October 7.
The Purebred Arabian Sales organised by Arqana will open the programme today. The Sale will be for horses in training, broodmares, foals, yearlings, 2YOs, stallions and endurance horses.
Twenty-four hours later, racegoers will catch action with the very first set of races associated with the world’s richest race on turf. Action will culminate on 7 October, when Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe returns to a renovated ParisLongchamp after a gap of two years during which the global event was staged at Chantilly.
Dozens of thousands of racegoers and millions of TV viewers worldwide look forward to a very special renewal of the Arc.
There will be races for pure Arabians at St. Cloud while the world’s premier global event for Arabians, the Qatar Arabian World Cup, will be run just before the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe race, in demonstration of Qatar’s commitment to promoting pure Arabians as part of Qatar’s heritage.
Meanwhile, a horse from Japan will try once more to win the greatest race in the world. This sporting challenge is cherished in Japan, a nation with a huge love for horseracing. A large contingent of fans from the Land of the Rising Sun is expected at ParisLongchamp to cheer home their champion, Clincher at the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe; the way they have been doing every year.
Japanese media provides intensive coverage of the Arc every year and this year’s renewal of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is no expectation, especially as they have not had landed the coveted title though they had many favourites and tough runners in previous editions.
A large media delegation has arrived in Paris for Clincher. Yesterday, media representatives watched the morning training of Clincher at the Training Centre in Chantilly.
During a press conference Japanese media representatives addressed questions to Clincher’s jockey Yutaka Take, who expressed his hope to win the long-awaited title for the Japanese.
Clincher’s trainer Hiroshi Miyamoto was also present along with other Chantilly-based trainers.
