French recruit Pedro Cara made a fantastic impression for his new owners as the famous white stars and royal blue silks of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani landed the big one at the Qatar Derby meeting at QREC’s Al Rayyan Park Saturrday, even as Al Shaqab Racing’s Shalaa won the Purebred Arabian feature in the presence of Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) president HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani.
Thomas Fourcy-trained Shalaa had Julien Auge for company and they did well to first stay within striking distance in the 2,000m Qatar Derby for Arabians as Umm Qarn’s Bin General set the pace under Olivier Peslier, and then taking the advantage on the outside a furlong out to win by a length-and-a-half.
Alban de Mieulle-trained trio, including Bin General, Ronan Thomas-ridden Marid and another Al Shaqab colt, Meblish, completed the frame.
De Mieulle had a fantastic winner in Umm Qarn’s Jabalah, who led from pillar to post under Soufiane Saadi in the Qatar Derby for three-year-old Arabians, with Fourcy’s ward, Lady Princess running out of real estate after struggling with traffic on the home straight in the miler under Julien Auge.
“He has only raced two times before, but today he proved he has quality. Al Hazm (ridden by Peslier) was supposed to go in front, because he is a fast horse but today Jabalah was pulling, and Olivier (Peslier) asked Soufiane to go ahead and he did a good job. It was a good decision. After the turn, he improved straight and it was why he won. If he had waited we would have been second,” De Mieulle told Gulf Times after the win.
In the USD500,000 feature for Thoroughbreds, Mauricio Delcher Sanchez-trained gelding showed an amazing turn of foot on the long stretch home to make up a lot of ground on the outside and get home under Tony Piccone for a fine win. It was the shortest run for the three-year-old, who had only run a mile and a half winning in Vichy and then a close second in the Belmont Park Derby in September, all under Piccone.
Saturrday, Pedro Cara beat Bangkok, ridden by Silvestre de Sousa for British handler Andrew Balding, by a length-and-a-quarter, while Anas al-Seyabi guided Ibrahim al-Malki-saddled Al Gazi to third.
“This was very exciting. We just secured this horse in October. I actually watched him run in the Belmont Derby and he got beat just a little bit. I knew he would like this kind of ground,” said Al Shahania Stud manager Dean Lavy.
“Actually today is a bit short for him, he would prefer a bit longer, and so we are excited to bring him back for the HH The Amir’s Sword weekend, he would relish that. Right now he looks like a good buy. We are happy. He was wide, and you don’t like to be wide on this track but he got the job done which shows how good he is.”
Al-Malki-trained Black Pearl won the first of the Qatar Derby features of the day when the gelding topped the USD70,000 feature for three-year-old Local Thoroughbreds Saturday.
Eduardo Pedroza, riding in the colours of Abdulatif Hussain al-Emadi, had kept his mount right behind early leader and stablemate Sky Blue, helmed by Ryan Curatolo, before making a rather early bid for the post coming off the farther bend.
Stablemate Al Khor Surprise, with Tomas Lukasek astride, was in pursuit behind the leader but was beaten to second by Stefano Ibido-schooled Ifreet under Luca Maniezzi, while Black Pearl stayed unbeaten with her third straight win.
Al Jeryan Stud’s Sarat Abha may have been carrying the maximum weight in the field at 60kg but there was no stopping the Hadi Nasser al-Ramzani-trained filly in the Local Thoroughbred Handicap event for horses rated 80 and below. After a winless previous season, the four-year-old has been having a great season, Saturday entering the winner’s circle for the third time this season and second time under Tomas Lukasek.
Al-Ramzani saddled a second-straight winner when Nasser Owaida Salem al-Hajri’s On The Front Line stayed true to his name to notch the seven-furlong Thoroughbred Handicap event for horses rated 75-95.
The trainer scored a hat-trick when Alexander Reznikov guided AJS Soghan to yet another thrilling victory of the day. As the field spread wide closer home, the Al Jeryan Stud colt managed to stay ahead of the field just enough to win by a neck, the three-year-old’s first victory in four outings.
Under Frenchman Ronan Thomas, the six-year-old mounted a late charge a furlong out from the post, and then held off a threatening pursuit from Pier Convertino-ridden Felix Leiter for a short head win.
Earlier in the day, Oaks-winning trainer-jockey duo from Friday, Ahmed Kobeissi and Ryan Curatolo, opened the Derby day with a thrilling victory as Jassim bin Ali al-Attiyah’s Naima won the Local Purebred Arabian Novice event by quarter-of-a-length.
In the only maiden race of the day, a Thoroughbreds run over 1850m, it was Mansoor Ebrahim al-Mahmoud’s Braemar that registered the first win of his career on his 17th outing, with Theo Bachelot riding the four-year-old for trainer Jassim Mohamed Ghazali. 


RESULTS
Race 1: 1. Naima (Ryan Curatolo), 2. Al Junood (Harry Bentley), 3. Murihk (Tomas Lukasek), 4. Rihab (Ronan Thomas). Won by: ¼, ¾, ½. Time: 2:04.30. Owner: Jassim bin Ali al-Attiyah. Trainer: Ahmed Kobeissi.
Race 2: 1. Braemar (Theo Bachelot), 2. Forneus (Pier Convertino), 3. Ghizlan (Ronan Thomas), 4. Hessdalen (Anas al-Seyabi). Won by: 2 ½, Hd, No. Time: 1:54.03. Owner: Mansoor Ebrahim al-Mahmoud. Trainer: Jassim Mohamed Ghazali.
Race 3: 1. Sarat Abha (Tomas Lukasek), 2. Khoud (Pier Convertino), 3. Attaf (Theo Bachelot), 4. Black Fear (Gary Sanchez). Won by: 5 ½, ¼, 1 ½. Time: 1:36.72. Owner: Al Jeryan Stud. Trainer: Hadi Nasser al-Ramzani.
Race 4: 1. On The Front Line (Ronan Thomas), 2. Felix Leiter (Pier Convertino), 3. Pettifogger (Luca Maniezzi), 4. Zyzzyva (Anas al-Seyabi). Won by: Shd, 2, Hd. Time: 1:22.00. Owner: Nasser Owaida Salem al-Hajri. Trainer: Hadi Nasser al-Ramzani.
Race 5: 1. AJS Soghan (Alexander Reznikov), 2. Dalilak (Marco Casamento), 3. Maladh (Ronan Thomas), 4. Al Addaaj (Jimmy Quinn). Won by: Nk, ¼, ¼. Time: 1:46.05. Owner: Al Jeryan Stud. Trainer: Hadi Nasser al-Ramzani.
Race 6: 1. Black Pearl (Eduardo Pedroza), 2. Ifreet (Luca Maniezzi), 3. Al Khor Surprise (Tomas Lukasek), 4. Sea The Light (Anas al-Seyabi). Won by: 1 ¼, ¼, 6. Time: 2:01.89. Owner: Abdulatif Hussain al-Emadi. Trainer: Ibrahim al-Malki.
Race 7: 1. Jabalah (Soufiane Saadi), 2. Lady Princess (Julien Auge), 3. Battash De Faust (Adrie de Vries), 4. Methgal (Tomas Lukasek). Won by: Shd, 1 ½, Nk. Time: 1:45.98. Owner: Umm Qarn. Trainer: Alban de Mieulle.
Race 8: 1. Shalaa (Julien Auge), 2. Bin General (Olivier Peslier), 3. Marid (Ronan Thomas), 4. Meblish (Faleh Bughanaim). Won by: 1 ½, ¼, 1. Time: 2:14.48. Owner: Al Shaqab Racing. Trainer: Thomas Fourcy.
Race 9: 1. Pedro Cara (Tony Piccone), 2. Bangkok (Silvestre de Sousa), 3. Al Gazi (Anas al-Seyabi), 4. Venedegar (Alexander Reznikov). Won by: 1 ¼, 1 ¼, No. Time: 2:04.66. Owner: His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani. Trainer: Mauricio Delcher Sanchez.