As Qatar's flagship racing event, His Highness The Amir Sword Festival, kicks off on Thursday, anticipation is at its peak with a top quality field lining up for the pair of million-dollar features on Saturday.
Keeping in line with the health and safety measures forced by the Covid-19 pandemic, the draw for the two features was held behind closed doors at the National Museum of Qatar on Wednesday.
As has been the case in the last few years all eyes in the Arabian feature, His Highness The Amir Sword (Group 1 PA) (Sponsored by Al Hazm), will be on the wards of Alban de Mieulle and Julian Smart, with the latter having won last five editions with His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani's Gazwan (2016 and 2018) and Doha Triple Crown winner Ebraz (2017, 2019, 2020).
Ebraz, who is up for an unprecedented straight hat-trick, has a tough task at hands with De Mieulle-trained Tayf, Umm Qarn's Qatar Arabian World Cup winner, winning their last two duels, including the Arabian feature at ParisLongchamp in October and the recent His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khalifa Al Thani Cup (Group 2 PA).
The two rivals will start next to each other in the 2,400m race on the final day of the three-day Festival on Saturday, having drawn the two widest stalls, Ebraz in Gate 13 and Tayf in 14.
Ebraz will partner yet again with Maxime Guyon who rode the grey son of Amer to last two Amir Sword victories, while Tayf will be under Ronan Thomas.
Improving De Mieulle's chances to land his first Amir Sword since Umm Qarn's Tabarak won the grand prize back in 2013 is Al Shaqab Racing's Gtnah, who had beaten Ebraz for runner up behind Al Naama in The Late Sheikh Jassim Bin Mohammed Al Thani Trophy (Group 2 PA) in December.
Gtnah starts in Gate 3 under Michael Forest with another Al Shaqab contender Melabi, from the French yards of Thomas Fourcy, next door in two and De Mieulle's Jabalah, owned by Umm Qarn, in 4. Melabi will have Jerome Cabre for company, while Jabalah will have Soufiane Saadi in the saddle.
Fourcy also has Khalifa bin Sheail al-Kuwari's Lady Princess (Julien Auge), the Qatar Derby winner, and Al Shaqab's Kair Al Cham (Faleh Bughanaim) in the affair, and the duo will start from gates 8 and 11. Umm Qarn's Bin General is the fourth and last De Mieulle contenders in the line-up, and will start under Carlos Henrique from Gate 10.
Smart has the inside line with HE Sheikha Yasmeen bint Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani's Mon'nia, Group 3 winner last time out, under Tomas Lukasek in Gate 1. Smart's two other contenders, Sheikh Khalifa bin Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani's Maxr (JP Guillambert) and HE Sheikha Iman bint Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani's Dawi (Francois Herholdt), will start from 5 and 7 respectively. The trainer has used pacemakers effectively in the past editions, and then relying on a clear shot to finish and the turn of foot of both Gazwan and Ebraz at the business end.
Osama Omer al-Dafea's duo — this season's two-time conditions winner Baker De Saularie (Jason Watson) and recent novice topper Ginkeau (Alberto Sanna) — start from 9 and 12 respectively.
Akmar, owned by Mohamed Nasser al-Naimi and trained by Hadi al-Ramzani, will line up from gate 6 under Anas al-Seyabi.
Smart also has two contenders in the Thoroughbreds feature, His Highness The Amir Trophy (QA Group 1) (Presented by Longines) — Sheikha Iman-owned Group 3 winner Off He Goes (Lukasek) and Sheikh Khalifa's Group 1 scorer Aspetar (Guyon). They will start from gates 2 and 8 respectively.
The sole international entry in the 10-strong card is British raider Berkshire Rocco (Watson), and the Andrew Balding ward will start from 3, next door from Off He Goes.
Al Wasmiyah Farm's highly successful Noor Al Hawa has the inside line under Alberto Sanna and along with Injaaz Stud's Hellenistique, who starts midway from 5, are some of the top local stars in the line-up. Besides, Hellenistique, trainer Zuhair Mohsen also has Zakhir Racing's Masterpiece (Forest) in the contest and he will start next door from 6.
Starting widest in 10 is HE Sheikha Reem bint Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani's 2019 Qatar Derby topper Pedro Cara (Saadi), from the stables of Jassim Ghazali, with Ahmed Kobeissi-trained Quelindo (Ivan Rossi) lining up in 9.
Hamad al-Jehani's Otwo starts from 4 under Faleh Bughanaim, and HE Sheikha Yasmeen bint Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani's Standard Deviation (Ryan Curatolo), runner-up in the event last year, in gate 7.
The USD 4.34mn Festival starts Thursday with an eight-race card and the 2,000m Al Zubara Trophy for local Arabians is the feature.
