DOHA (Qatar): The prestigious HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Sword Festival will start in couple of hours from now at the Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club’s (QREC) Al Rayyan Park with top notch Europeans in the mix with Qatar’s finest for the races.
The position draw for the HH The Amir Trophy and the HH The Amir Sword races were held at Qatar National Museum on Wednesday.
The three-day Festival (February 18-20) will be held in coordination with the Ministry of Public Health ensuring all precautionary measures for the prevention of new coronavirus (COVID-19) in accordance with the measures being followed in the country.
Full card of quality races
The finale will be the focus of attention as it will see some of the biggest races, topped by the HH The Amir Sword (Gr 1 QA) for Purebred Arabians and the HH The Amir Trophy (Gr 1 QA) for Thoroughbreds.
The other coveted titles include the HH The Amir Silver Sword for Purebred Arabians, the HH The Amir Shalfa for Thoroughbreds, the Qatar International Cup (Gr1 QA) for Purebred Arabians, the Al Biddah Mile (Gr 2 QA) for Thoroughbreds, the Dukhan Sprint (Gr 3 QA) for Thoroughbreds, and Al Rayyan Breeders Cup for local Thoroughbreds.
The USD 4.34mn Festival will kick into big action with an eight-race card with the feature race being the 2,000m Al Zubara Trophy for local Arabians scheduled for 5.45pm.
Overall, the big focus would be on the Arabian feature – HH The Amir Sword (Group 1 PA) which will see jockey and trainer Alban de Mieulle and Julian Smart combine yet again with the latter having won last five editions with HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani’s Gazwan (in 2016 and 2018) and Doha Triple Crown winner Ebraz (2017, 2019, 2020).
Ebraz chasing hat-trick
Up for the challenge will be the De Mieulle-trained Tayf. This duel would provide the finale on Saturday, the final day of the Festival.
Ebraz has landed the last two renewals of this prestigious event, getting the better of Tayf on both occasions, but Tayf took revenge in October when beating his old rival into third in the Group 1 Qatar Arabian World Cup in France.
Saturday’s final international event, the Qatar International Cup (Sponsored by Daam), is a $250,000 one mile (1600m) race for purebred Arabians. Amaar, a visitor from Oman, is the only foreigner among a 15-runner field headed by the three-time Group 2 scorer, Al Naama (Soufiane Saadi).
The $200,000 Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cup takes place 24 hours before the Festival’s other five international contests on Friday. This one mile (1600m) affair will see an Irish challenger, Bowerman, the mount of Ronan Whelan, go up against 13 locals.
