Irish raider Bowerman won a spectacular duel in the final 100m to win the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cup (QA Group 2), even as Wasim al-Sahn’s charge Ghannam beat a highly-rated field to notch a surprise win in the Gulf Cup on the second day of the HH The Amir Sword Festival at Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club’s Al Rayyan Park on Friday.
Bowerman, from the yards of Irish handler Adrian McGuinness, opened the mile-long USD 200,000 invitation-only feature for older Thoroughbreds wide from Gate 13. Soon on the back straight, jockey Ronan Whelan had his mount move steadily up on the outside before giving the seven-year-old gelding a go-ahead coming on to the home straight.
Just then local contender Dominus, ridden by Alberto Sanna for Stefano Ibido in the colours of Abdulhadi Mana al-Hajri, began his chase too. Closer to the post, the contest turned into a duel of sorts with the two rivals neck-and-neck, only for Bowerman to dig into his reserves and winning by a neck.
“(The trip to Qatar) was really worthwhile. It was really great to get the invite from the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club. Adrian and his team have done a wonderful job to get this horse the way it has. We probably didn’t get the cleanest trip through the race but his class showed in the end,” Whelan told Gulf Times after the win.
“The draw was a little bit of a worry. In his races in Ireland, he tends to take his time a little bit. This seems like a speed favouring track here, so that was a little bit of a worry. I managed to get a good position down the back straight. In the end he just did enough to win, but I had a plenty of horse left.”
Half-an-hour earlier, Abdullah Saeed Abdullah al-Mesnad's Ghannam, the runner with the lowest rating in the field at 86, beat the favourites to bag the USD 100,000 feature for Arabians bred in the GCC. Umm Qarn's Aahil and Mohamed Jaber al-Khayarin's Barra, the two picks in the race, had set the pace early on in the mile-long turf run. Sanna kept Ghannam, who had won a six-furlong sprint on dirt last time round, in the hunt close behind before having his mount surge forward to join the leaders. Soon they eased forward to take the lead and with that a win by a length.
“This is the second time I won with this horse. He is a young horse, with a rating that was the lowest in the field. It was a very tough race. But my horse is very good. He did it in the Gulf Cup on this distance, and he won in a sprint (last time round), so he is improving,” al-Sahn told Gulf Times.
Sanna had opened the day with a win astride Al Jeryan Stud’s AJS Beirut in the Local Purebred Arabian Novice Plate, also over a mile.
Soufiane Saadi celebrated a treble yesterday, guiding three winners to victory. First up was Umm Qarn’s Bin Al Tair, the Alban de Mieulle charge who shed his maiden status in the 2,000m run for four-six-year-old Arabians.
Saadi was then astride Abdulatif Hussain al-Emadi’s Al Adheed, as the gelding led a sweep of the top two spots for the owner and trainer Bader al-Balushi, with Al Moatasem al-Balushi riding Bab Al Rayyan to second place in the seven-furlong Local Thoroughbred Trophy.
The French jockey then helped trainer Jassim Ghazali complete a double, guiding Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Mohamed al-Attiyah’s Ateej to a fantastic Purebred Arabian Sprint Cup victory.
Khalifa bin Sheail al-Kuwari’s Luchador was earlier the first victory yesterday for Ghazali, and also the first victory of the flagship weekend for French jockey and Qatar Derby winner Julien Auge. The duo led a one-two for Ghazali in the mile-long Thoroughbreds event for fillies and mares, with Saadi astride runner-up Make A Wish.
Al Shaqab Racing’s Lauded, ridden by Ronan Thomas for trainer Ibrahim al-Malki, picked up the closest of wins, by a nose, in the six-furlong Thoroughbred Plate sprint for three-year-olds after Jason Watson and his partner Golden Bear ran out of track.
The Festival will conclude on Saturday with two US$1mn features, one each for Thoroughbreds and Purebred Arabians – HH The Amir Trophy (QA Group 1) (Presented by Longines) and HH The Amir Sword (Group 1 PA) (Sponsored by Al Hazm) respectively.

RESULTS
Race 1:
LOCAL PUREBRED ARABIAN NOVICE PLATE (Fillies & Mares) (4-year-old & older) (Distance: 1,600m)
1. AJS Beirut (Alberto Sanna), 2. Abida (Ronan Thomas), 3. Ghanayem (Meteb Ali al-Marri), 4. Valentina (Faleh Bughanaim). Won by: Shd, 1 ¾, 2. Time: 1:45.83. Owner: Al Jeryan Stud. Trainer: Rashid al-Ali.
Race 2:
PUREBRED ARABIAN MAIDEN PLATE (4-6 year-old) (Distance: 2,000m)
1. Bin Al Tair (Soufiane Saadi), 2. Nachmi Al Cham (JP Guillambert), 3. Al Malhouf (Julien Auge), 4. Djafar (Saleh Salem al-Marri). Won by: ½, ½, ¾. Time: 2:15.06. Owner: Umm Qarn. Trainer: Alban de Mieulle.
Race 3:
THOROUGHBRED PLATE (3 Year Olds) (Class 4) (Distance: 1,200m)
1. Lauded (Ronan Thomas), 2. Golden Bear (Jason Watson), 3. Unbutton (Maxime Guyon), 4. Nastase (Soufiane Saadi). Won by: No, 1 ¼, Hd. Time: 1:11.56. Owner: Al Shaqab Racing. Trainer: Ibrahim al-Malki.
Race 4:
THOROUGHBREDS (Fillies & Mares) (Class 3) (Distance: 1,600m)
1. Luchador (Julien Auge), 2. Make A Wish (Soufiane Saadi), 3. Festive (Maxime Guyon), 4. Mahaarat (Alberto Sanna). Won by: Nk, Nk, 1. Time: 1:36.14. Owner: Khalifa bin Sheail al-Kuwari. Trainer: Jassim Ghazali.
Race 5:
LOCAL THOROUGHBRED TROPHY (4-year-old & older) (Distance: 1,400m)
1. Al Adheed (Soufiane Saadi), 2. Bab Al Rayyan (Al Moatasem al-Balushi), 3. Arandas (Ronan Thomas), 4. Nayer Bu Thaila (JP Guillambert). Won by: ½, ½, Hd. Time: 1:24.66. Owner: Abdulatif Hussain al-Emadi. Trainer: Bader al-Balushi.
Race 6:
PUREBRED ARABIAN SPRINT CUP (4-year-old & older) (Distance: 1,200m)
1. Ateej (Soufiane Saadi), 2. AJS Berline (Alberto Sanna), 3. Mkayns (Carlos Henrique), 4. Daloob (Ronan Thomas). Won by: ¼, 1 ½, ½. Time: 1:16.82. Owner: Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Mohamed al-Attiyah. Trainer: Jassim Ghazali.
Race 7:
GULF CUP (4-year-old & older Purebred Arabians bred in the GCC) (Distance: 1,600m)
1. Ghannam (Alberto Sanna), 2. Aahil (Ronan Thomas), 3. Barra (Faleh Bughanaim), 4. Ghali Al Athman (Tomas Lukasek). Won by: 1, ¾. 1. Time: 1:44.20. Owner: Abdullah Saeed Abdullah al-Mesnad. Trainer: Wasim al-Sahn.
Race 8:
IRISH THOROUGHBRED MARKETING CUP (QA Gr 2) (4-year-old & older, by invitation only) (Distance: 1,600m)
1. Bowerman (Ronan Whelan), 2. Dominus (Alberto Sanna), 3. Sir Arthur Dayne (Maxime Guyon), 4. Perfect Empire (Soufiane Saadi). Won by: Nk, 2, Nk. Time: 1:34.90. Owner: Total Recall Racing Club. Trainer: Adrian McGuinness.