(MENAFN- The Peninsula) H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani attended the opening of the Qatar Goodwood Festival at the Goodwood Racecourse in Hampshire here yesterday.
The five-day festival took off with the Qatar Lennox Stakes, the £300,000 Group II feature event of the opening day.
Godolphin's Richard Hannon-trained Toormore, ably ridden by new jockey James Doyle, won the seven-furlong race.
Doyle pushed Toormore to stretch his rivals inside the final two furlongs and the Colt responded generously to take the prize from Dutch Connection, who came in second.
This was Toormore's maiden run for Godolphin Blue.
A pair of other Godolphin runners, Night Of Thunder and Belardo, take part in today's Group I Qatar Sussex Stakes worth £1m, making it one of the most valuable mile races in the world.
Qatar signed a 10-year partnership with Goodwood Racecourse, which is the single biggest sponsorship deal ever done for the benefit of British racing.
The partnership results in over £2m being invested into prize money for eight key races during the Qatar Goodwood Festival 2015 as well as a commitment to increase this year-on-year.
Total prize money on offer for the week now totals £4.5m, with Qatar once again demonstrating their passion and support for British racing. This makes the Qatar Goodwood Festival one of the most significant and valuable meetings in the world.
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