Ebraz’s team celebrates winning the Amir’s Golden Sword at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, yesterday.
Julian Smart-trained Ebraz yesterday produced a thrilling run with jockey Maxime Guyon in the saddle to win the $1m Amir’s Golden Sword at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC).
Owned by H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani, Ebraz clocked a winning time of 2:37.06 finishing the 2,400m turf race ahead of Yazeed and Gazwan.
Ridden by Olivier Peslier, Yazeed was 0.75 furlongs behind Ebraz while Smart-trained Gazwan, who had Theo Bachelot in the saddle, finished in third spot in the Al Hazm-sponsored feature race.
Guyon won the top prize of $570,000 while Peslier got richer by $220,000. Bachelot supplemented his third spot with a prize of $110,000 at a packed QREC.
Going into the last 200m, Yazeed had a comfortable lead darting towards the finish, but Ebraz produced incredible lung power to swing in from the outside to win the race in spectacular finish.
Trainer Smart raised both his arms in jubilation as fans at QREC roared with wild applause for jockey Guyon’s big win.
Earlier in the day, French rider Peslier powered French King to a spectacular finish in the Amir’s Trophy (G1), grabbing the top prize of $570,000 by finishing ahead of Royal Julius and Hunting Horn.
Four-year-old French King, trained by Henri-Alex Pantall, clocked a time of 02:26.12 in the 2400m marathon in a field of 14 entries.
Ridden by Gerald Mosse, Royal Julius, finished 1.50 furlongs behind French King owned by H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani. Hunting Horn, who produced good speed near the end, was ridden by Ryan Moore.
Mosse won $220,000 while Moore got $110,000 for his third-placed finish.
In the Amir’s Silver Sword battle, popular jockey Harry Bentley partnered with Fakhir, trained by Mohammed Jassim Ghazali, to win the honours in the $250,000 race. Fakhir clocked a time of 2:02.62 in the 1,850m race.
AJS Moaddie, ridden by Faleh Bughanaim, finished in second place while Tabouk, who had Cristian Demuro in the saddle, secured the third spot.
Bentley won $142,500 while Bughanaim bagged $55,000. Demuro took home $27,500.
