Doha: The fourth edition of the Souq Waqif Equestrian Festival kicked off on Tuesday, February 21. The event is organized by the Organising Committee at the Private Engineering Office, with large participation from local and international horse-owners.
The festival is being held at the Western Square of Souq Waqif and will last until February 28.
The festival's activities began with the Purebred Arabian Horse Championship qualifiers, Class A, which witnessed the participation of 151 horses. The qualifiers are set to be held over three days.
For the qualifying competitions for two-year-old fillies (1b), the first place was won by Rayana Al-Nasser, owned by Al-Nasser Stud, and Subha Mudar, owned by Sheikh Hamad bin Ali Al-Thani, and Reem Al-Jamil, owned by Al-Jamil Stud.
Among the 3-year-old filly competitions, the first place went to Di Hanina owned by Al-Jood Stud, and in the second place came Mutarat Al-Inaya owned by Al-Yameen Stud, and in third place Manouh Al-Basha, owned by Ali Mubarak Al-Khayarin.
The festival's organizing committee allocated financial prizes amounting to QR6.4 million, to be distributed to the first-place winners. Equal prizes will be distributed in the qualifying stage for the winners of the first to eighth positions, starting in succession from QR45,000 to QR9,000.
For the finals stage, the first place winner and gold medal recipient for colts and fillies aged two and three years will receive a financial prize of QR100,000, while the second place silver medalist will receive QR70,000, and the third placed bronze medalist will receive QR40,000.
The gold winner for the category of mares and stallions will receive a prize of QR150,000, silver winner QR100,000, and the bronze winner will receive QR50,000.
The festival will also witness accompanying activities, including booths dedicated to selling equestrian supplies, as well as various activities and entertainment for families, starting at 4pm in the evening.
Mohamed Abdel-Rahman Al-Mansour, director of the Souq Waqif Equestrian Festival, confirmed that the start of the festival has been good, and that its competitions are held in a special atmosphere.
The festival's director thanked all those in charge of the festival and all the participants, both from inside and outside Qatar, particularly the Gulf region countries and the many other participating countries such as Argentina, stressing that the Souq Waqif Equestrian Festival is a global event that brings together horse enthusiasts from all around.
Regarding Qatari participation, Al-Mansour said: “The participation is very strong in light of the presence of many well-known, strong and successful studs such as Al Shaqab, Al Rayyan Farm, Al Wajba, Al Nasser, and Doha."
