A NEW name will feature on the roll of honour for the Gulf Cup, the first major prize to be contested at the three-day 23rd HH the Emir International Equestrian Sword Festival at the Racing and Equestrian Club on Tuesday 25 February, with Fouladh, winner of the race for the last two years, being targeted at the following day’s Qatar International Trophy,  writes Howard Wright. 

However, Fouladh’s connections – the Umm Qarn stable run by Alan de Mieulle – have a strong hand in the race, restricted to GCC-bred Arabians over 1,600m, in which the trainer has amassed the remarkable record of eight wins in the last nine years.

Umm Qarn will be represented by Suwaida, who won a small race in Doha over 2,000m last time out, and the four-year-old filly Haifaa, the least experienced runner in the line-up with four outings to her name.

After opening her racing career by finishing second in the Qatar Oaks Trial in late-November, Haifaa is unbeaten in her subsequent starts, all over Tuesday’s distance and including the Qatar Derby. She will be ridden by the vastly experienced French jockey Olivier Peslier, while Pier Convertino continues his association with Suwaida.

Julian Smart, the only trainer to have broken de Mieulle’s Gulf Cup victory run when he won with Nimr in 2011, is represented by Al Azuur and Raheel for owner HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani. They will be ridden by Dubai-based jockeys Richard Mullen and Harry Bentley respectively.

Al Azuur did best of several runners beaten by Smart-trained Assy, who will contest the week’s feature race, the HH the Emir’s Sword, on Thursday, in the Qatar Gold Sword over 2,200m earlier this month. Al Azuur finished seventh, ahead of Mogida (ninth), AJS Fath Elkheir (tenth), Maazouz (11th) and Al Yarmouk (12th).

Qatar’s leading trainer, Jassim Ghazali, saddles Thawi, runner-up in his last two races, and Arrafa, winner of three small races before being placed twice in stronger company.

The Ghazali stable is responsible for nine of the 16 runners in the richest and shortest race on the programme, the Group 3 Qatar 2022 Invitation Cup, over 1,200m for thoroughbreds., including Collect Art, winner of the race in 2012 and fifth last year.

Collect Art, who will be ridden by Convertino, is a tough customer who has won four of his last six races, although never by more than a neck, but he finished only seventh of ten runners behind stablemate Sandbetweenourtoes on his most recent outing on 13 February.

Sandbetweenourtoes, the mount of Stephan Ladjadj, was completing his sixth success from his last eight races for owner Sheail Bin Khalifa Al Kuwari on that occasion, during which he has beaten several of Tuesday’s rivals, including Bazaruto, Chandlery, General Duke’s, Hestian, New Pearl, Pay Freeze and Pirate’s Song.

Less familiar entrants are Erebus, Bahrain-trained by Mohammed Hassan and returning to Doha for the first time since he finished 11th in the race a year ago, and Force Freeze, formerly trained in the US and making his Qatar debut at the age of nine.

Force Freeze, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 2011, joined the stable of Nasser Al Kaabi after making his first start for almost two years towards the end of last month.