DOHA: The horse racing season will start on October 24 with Owners Cup - to be run over a distance of 1900m - as the feature event of the day, details showed yesterday.
A total of 47 international and domestic races have been listed on the horse racing calendar with 8 races on the opening day of the new season.
The races will be held at the Racing and Equestrian Club (REC) in Al Rayyan, the country’s premier venue for racing and show jumping events.
The final race of the 2018-19 season will be held on April 25 next year.
The Amir’s Golden Sword (GR 1 PA) will be the biggest event of the new season. The Amir’s Golden Sword will be the main event of the three-day racing festival set to be held from February 21 to 23 next year.
The three-day racing festival every year attracts very strong international and national entries.
The Amir’s Trophy (GR 1) and H H The Amir’s Silver Sword will also be run on February 23, according to the calendar posted on the REC website. Among other key races in the season will be the Qatar National Day Trophy (Gr2 PA) to be run on December 16 and the Dukhan Cup on January 3, 2019.
Nasser Sherida Al Kaabi, General Manager of REC, said the season’s feature event will be the racing festival scheduled to be held in February next year.
The Amir’s Golden Sword is part of the Qatar Arabian Triple Crown announced by the Qatar International Equestrian Committee three years ago.
The Qatar Arabian Triple Crown will feature a bonus of $1m for the winner of three of the world’s most prestigious Arabian races.
Winners of the feature events at the Amir’s Golden Sword, the Qatar Goodwood Festival, the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe can win the $1m Qatar Triple Crown.
The three-day racing festival is organised every season to promote Qatar’s love of horse racing to the international audience with entries coming to Qatar from far and wide.
Last season, Gazwan, with Cristian Demuro in the saddle, produced a sublime run to nail the Amir’s Golden Sword glory on the final day of the horse racing festival in February this year.
The seven-year-old, owned by H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani, gave popular American trainer Julian Smart his sixth Amir’s Sword glory in nine years.
Gazwan beat Smart-trained Ebraz who was ridden by Theo Bachelot to the top spot. Yazeed, who had O Peslier in the saddle, finished third in the $1m race.
Demuro won $570,000 for finishing 1.25 furlongs ahead of Ebraz in the 2400m marathon.
