(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The focus turns to horse racing today at H H The Emir 24th International Equestrian Sword Festival when Qatar's most prestigious race meeting gets under way following five days of major international horse shows staged under the patronage of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Emir.
At a press conference held in Doha yesterday Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club (QREC) General Manager Sami Jassim Al Boenain said: "We have had a great start to the H H The Emir 24th International Equestrian Sword festival which launched with a fabulous opening ceremony where I hope we have encouraged and inspired even more people to become involved and share our passion for horses."
He added: "We have some very exciting racing to look forward to over the next three days and competition, especially in the especially in the international Thoroughbred races will be tough We are very grateful to our sponsors who support our events here in Qatar and France and also around the world, the partnerships we have formed with them are very important to us."
The first of three spectacular days racing which boast a combined prize money offer in excess of QR25m (‚¬6m) is highlighted by the Gulf Cup, a 1600m race on Turf for GCC Bred Arabians (Gulf Corporation Council) aged four-years and over and worth QR285,000 to the winner (‚¬430,000).
Briain-based trainer Marco Botti is set to have his first runner in Qatar when Golden Steps lines up for the day's joint feature, the Group 3 Qatar 2022 Invitation Cup which also sees Al Shaqab principal jockey Frankie Dettori renew his partnership with Luca Cumani who sends out Mission Approved in the 1200m Turf event. Cumani could also be represented in the following day's Group 2 Qatar International Cup in which Ayaar is among four reserves.
Botti, who attended the press conference together with Dettori and Qatari trainers Jassim Al Ghazali, said: "I came to Qatar last year just to look and I am delighted to be having a runner this year. Golden Steps is in very good form. Most of his campaign last year was on the straight, but he ran well to finish fourth in a Listed race at Lingfield last time and handled the bend well and we have a good jockey in Marco Monteriso so deserves to take his chance. The owner (Matar Bin Abdullah Al Mannai) was very keen for us to race in Qatar and I hope he will run well."
Dettori, who also rides Dubday, is bidding for back-to-back victories in Thursday's H H The Emir's Trophy.
"Racing in Qatar is very competitive. It's a sharp track and the straight is only 400 metres so getting a good position early on is very important. Dubday is unbeaten in Qatar, he and I have every confidence that Jassim (Al Ghazali) has got him spot on but it will be a competitive race," Dettori said.
Qatar International Day, day two of the meeting, is dedicated mostly to Thoroughbreds who will contest six of the nine races and provides and exciting preface for the festival finale on Thursday which features two Group 1 contests, the H H The Emir's Trophy for Thoroughbreds and the H H The Emir's Sword for Purebred Arabians in which trainer Julian Smart is looking for his fourth victory in five years.
Tariq Al Siddiqi, Deputy General Manager of QREC and Director of Racing, said: "The track is in very good condition and we are looking forward to welcoming many of the highest rated horses. There is prize money of QR2m for the Group 1 Thoroughbred and QR3m for the H H The Emir's Sword and we are expecting some very competitive racing."
Domestic and International media and VIP guests will have an opportunity to mingle with many of the personalities involved in the race meeting at 'Breakfast with the Stars', an informal event held at the racecourse tomorrow morning.
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