Jockey Harry Bentley guides Ishfaq to win the Al Zubara Trophy on the opening day of the Amir’s Sword Festival at Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, yesterday.
Doha: Popular British jockey Harry Bentley yesterday guided Ishfaq to glory in the Al Zubara Trophy in the feature race on day one of the Amir’s Sword Festival at Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC). The winning time for Ishfaq was 2:11.97.
Ishfaq, trained by Qatari Mohammed Jassim Ghazali, finished the 2000m turf race ahead of She’ris - ridden by Eduardo Pedroza - in the $150,000 race. Reda, who had Stephan Ladjadj in the saddle, wrapped up the top three out of 13 entries.
Ishfaq finished quarter of a neck ahead of She’ris, trained by Ibrahim Saeed Al Malki. Reda, trained by Julian Smart, was 1.75 furlongs behind Ishfaq as Bentley won the top prize of $85,500. Pedroza got $33,000 while Ladjadj took home $16,500.
In the seventh race on the charts, JP Guillambert savoured victory astride Receding Waves, winning the 1200m race in a time of 01:11.79. Receding Waves, trained by Jassim Ghazali, finished ahead of Shobrom who was ridden by Jimmy Quinn.
In third place was Itorio trained by Hadi Nasser Rashid Al Ramzani. Ridden by Tomas Lukasek, Itorio was 1.25 furlongs behind Receding Waves.
Guillambert won $17,100 while Quinn picked up $6,600. Lukasek got $3,300.
Earlier in race six, JP Guillambert powered to an impressive win with Tawahid trained by Ghazali. Tawahid finished ahead of Crafted, ridden by Quinn, while Shakour - trained by Ghazali - was the third fastest entry out of 16 riders.
Tawahid’s winning time was 1:36.39 as Guillambert bagged the top prize of $17,600. Quinn won $$6,600 while Marco Casamento - astride Shakour - got richer by $3,300 in the 1600m race.
Action continues today at QREC where 9 more races will be held.
The riders will eye glory in the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cup (QA Gr 2), the main event on day two of the horse racing festival. The top rider in the $200,000 race will take home $114.000. The second-best rider will get $44,000 while the third-placed entry will get richer by $22,000.
The main spectacle tomorrow - the last day of the racing festival - will see riders aiming for glory in the Amir’s Trophy (QA Gr 1) presented by Longines. The overall prize bag for this race is $1m with the top rider getting $570,000 while the second-best rider will get $220,000.
The third-placed rider will get $110,000. In the last event of the three-day festival, the Amir’s Sword (GR 1, PA) - sponsored by Al Hazm - the riders will be aiming for the top prize of $570,000. The second-placed rider will get richer by $220,000 while the third-best entry will take home $110,000.
The entire three-day festival will be broadcast live in Al Kass Sport Channels.
