PARIS : The Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe meeting begins on Friday at Paris’s Saint-Cloud racecourse, with the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club sponsoring the event through Oct. 5.
The opening day features two Group 1 PA races for three-year-old Purebred Arabians over 2,000 metres — the Qatar Arabian Trophy des Poulains for colts and the Qatar Arabian Trophy des Pouliches for fillies.
Nine colts are entered in the first race and 13 fillies in the second, with the two events providing an early test of the leading three-year-old Arabian horses in Europe.
The meeting follows Thursday’s Arqana Arabian Horse Sale at Saint-Cloud, which drew international interest and was attended by representatives of the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club.
The sale catalogue featured 78 horses, including 56 two-year-olds, six yearlings and 16 racehorses. The racehorse category included five wildcard entries and 11 horses from breeding programmes.
Organisers reported strong demand across the different categories, with a high overall sales rate and increased activity in the Arabian horse market.
The sale is held alongside Qatar’s long-running sponsorship of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe meeting, linking the commercial programme with the promotion of Purebred Arabian racing in Europe.
The meeting, which combines the Arc programme with a series of high-level Arabian races, will continue through Oct. 5 as the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club maintains its support for international Arabian horse racing
