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The Goodwood Festival in Qatar, UK, enters its fourth day today (Friday) with many intense and exciting races taking place on the ancient Goodwood circuit as dozens of classified horses compete in a bid to achieve victory and confirm their eligibility for this great international festival. The Festival is now being held for the tenth consecutive year under the patronage of Qatar, adding further impetus to the programme of events and racing during the festival, represented by the Qatar Tourism Authority, which also recently announced the extension of its partnership with Goodwood. This partnership, which has been in place for several years and will start next year in 2025, is a continuation of the successful collaboration with the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, which has enjoyed more than a decade of success since hosting the Qatar Goodwood Festival in 2015.
Seven races will be held today, with a focus on the Grade 2 King George Stakes in Qatar, with 13 horses in the running, including: “Rogue Lightning”, Graded winner King Wudhanan Racing, and “Big Eves”, who has taken first prize at Santa Fe Racecourse Anita in the United States under the guidance of trainer Michael Appleby, while “Bliving”, owner of Highclere Tea Breed Racing, recently won a Group 2 “Jusoor”, Group 3 Trial winner of the Commonwealth Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The festival events continued yesterday, Thursday, with a total of 9 races, which were a great success, which is not unusual for the Qatar Goodwood Festival, the most important of which was the Group 1 Qatar Nassau Stakes for purebred mares aged 3 years and over. The distance of 2000 meters was won by the filly “Opera Singer”» (Proof of the Arc de Triomphe.
The competition was very intense with nine horses competing, including two from Al Shaqab Sparkling Plenty and Doha, but Opera Singer’s advantage came from the success of jockey Ryan Moore, who led the field with three wins in terms of race progress and ability to reach the finish line.
After finishing second in Group 1 of the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot in her last outing, the three-year-old mare Justify continued to improve her performance to win the Qatar Nassau Stakes, her second victory in a Group 1 event.
Riding the excellent Ryan Moore, Opera Singer charged through the halfway field with incredible power and speed from the start gate, taking the lead and heading into the home straight she was half a length ahead of Lumiere Rock (Saxon Warrior) and the difference between the other horses was clear, and even though Sea the Fire (Sea Star) tried to force her way into the race in the final moments, it was also clear how much of an advantage she had over her rivals. Instantly, Opera Singer took the win, while Sea the Fire, bearing the JC Smith logo, finished second under the supervision of trainer Andrew Paulding, led by Fantasy Ocean Murphy, and Sparkling Plenty (Kingman, King). Al Shaqab Racing, under the guidance of trainer P. Cotter and led by Fantasy Christian Dimeuro, was satisfied with third place and would have advanced to the lead had it not been for the late burst of Fantasy and the mare. Sparkling Plenty” raced for the first time today with the Al Shaqab Racing logo, noting that it had raced previously with another owner and in its last two starts before today it had two straight wins in Group 2 and then a Group 1 victory.
On the other hand, the Doha team owned by Al Shaqab Racing and supervised by trainer Ralph Beckett and led by Al Khayal Hector Crouch finished fifth.
After the competition, His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the United Kingdom, and His Excellency Isa bin Mohammed Al Muhannadi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the State of Qatar, witnessed the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club winning the championship of this competition.
Yesterday, the event was attended by His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, Qatar’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Isa bin Mohammed Al Muhannadi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar Jockey Club, and representatives of the Equestrian Club, Hamad bin Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah, Chairman of the Asian Equestrian Federation, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar Jockey Club, Khalifa bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah, Acting CEO of the club, Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Abdul-Malik, Member of the Board of Directors, Abdullah bin Rashid Al-Kubaisi, Director of the Racing Department, Ahmed Al-Shaibani, Director of the Support Services Department, and Salem bin Khajim Al-Athba, Director of the Club’s Public Relations, External Communications and Marketing Department.
Salem Al-Asbar: Thank you Qatar Tourism Authority… our young people are taking responsibility
Salem bin Khajim Al-Athba, Director of Public Relations, External Communications and Marketing at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, expressed his delight at the results achieved by the Qatar Goodwood Festival after the third day. : For the tenth consecutive year, Qatar has proven that its sponsorship of the festival has yielded very positive results, both in terms of the level of competition and the interest in purebred Arabian horse racing, as we saw the day before yesterday when the horse “King of Shaqab Horses” Al Ghadeer stole the show and won the Qatar International Purebred Arabian Horse Championship, his first Triple Crown title this year. Before that, I congratulate the Al Shaqab Racing team and His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani and his sons on Al Ghadeer’s victory, with which he proved that he has the ability to go even further on the winning path and achieve a second consecutive Triple Crown, an unprecedented achievement.
Al-Athba added: “The involvement of Qatari students studying in the UK in organising this festival is an outstanding step by the Qatar Cultural Mission in the UK. Our students are full of enthusiasm and have shown that they are able to take responsibility.
Al-Athbi concluded: “The extension of our sponsorship of the Goodwood Festival Qatar will be a qualitative leap in the course of this event and I extend my greetings to our brothers at the Qatar Tourism Authority for taking this wonderful step which will have a significant positive impact in the next steps. The Goodwood Festival Qatar will be held for two years in 2025 and 2026 and from next year the festival name will be changed to ‘Goodwood Festival Qatar’.
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