Sheikh Abdullah bin Mishal al-Thani (centre) receives the winner’s trophy from Minister of Youth and Sports HE Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali (second from left) after he rode Munjim to victory in the Maseela races at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Federation yesterday. PICTURES: Juhaim

By Mikhil Bhat/Doha

 

Majd Al Arab’s grey son TM Thunder Struck made Alban de Mieulle a very happy man yesterday.
The Frenchman, two months ago, had tipped the Umm Qarn colt to do well in the Qatar Arabian World Cup at Longchamp but was bitterly disappointed with a 12th place finish.
A little bit of rest since then and TM Thunder Struck has done well to pick up two victories, the second of which was yesterday in the Qatar National Day Trophy, a Group 2 race for Purebred Arabians, which featured the card at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club.
Two weeks ago, TM Thunder Struck had won another feature, the Muaither Cup, beating a 12-horse field.
Yesterday, Jean Baptiste Hamel rode the five-year-old to lead an Umm Qarn one-two with Gaetan Faucon riding Amer progeny Nashmi to finish second. Ahmed Abdullah al-Marzooqi’s Raddad finished third.
“When you are first and second in the big race, it obviously does feel very nice. TM Thunder Struck is a nice horse but he has never been able to prove that he is a champion,” De Mieulle told Gulf Times yesterday. “He ran in Goodwood but was unlucky. Then he ran well in the preparation for the Qatar Arabian World Cup at Longchamp but the day of the Arc, he just wasn’t what we expected of him.
“So we rested him a bit. That has done well to him. We tried him over seven furlongs two weeks ago and he won. This time we had him go over 2000m. I told the jockey to wait and wait, and let’s see how it pans out in the end. It ended rather well.
“I was disappointed after Longchamp but Kalino gave me a reason to cheer up by winning the big race in Abu Dhabi (Group 1 Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown) and today TM Thunder Struck won too.”
Earlier in the day, after missing out on a victory twice, Umm Qarn and De Mieulle cherished a win with Adwan in the Class 5 Thoroughbred Handicap event.
Zakhir Stud’s The Scuttler took the early lead in the 1600m event with Minley, owned by Mohammed Khalid Hamad Ali al-Khalifa, galloping alongside. Four furlongs to go, jockey Hamel and his ride Adwan were sixth in the field.
The complexion changed as the action approached the home stretch with Stolen Story and Words Of A Prophet going past Minley, and Adwan picking up speed.
What looked like a comfortable lead for The Scuttler soon disappeared as Hamel had Adwan galloping at an impressive pace on the outside, and jockey Yanis Aouabed, who had held a steady inside line with Pat Mustard, moved ahead too.
Enjoy Today, ridden by Stephan Ladjadj, showed some impressive turn of foot and kept eating into Adwan’s lead but it was only good enough for a second place finish at the post ahead of Fadak, who had managed to edge out Pat Mustard.
Injaaz Stud and Jassim al-Ghazali picked up a victory in the Class 3 Thoroughbred Handicap event for horses rated 75-95 after Sir Guy Porteous won a thriller that saw four horses finish within one tenth of a second.
Ali bin Adel al-Muslimani’s New Pearl, ridden by Gaetan Faucon, took the lead early on ahead of one of the strongest fields in the card. Mullen kept Sir Guy Porteous right behind New Pearl on the inside.
With only two furlongs to go, Mullen found his way blocked and had to step out. While he did that, jockey Yanis Aouabed had Yanis Ahmed Hassan al-Malki al-Jehani’s Tarrafal squeeze past a couple of horses on the inside to move ahead in the contention.
In the end, however, Sir Guy Porteous was good to edge out the competition for a fine win with New Pearl finishing second and Rising Dawn in third. This was a second victory for the Injaaz-Ghazali combine after Intishar was ridden to his second victory of the season by Stephan Ladjadj in the Purebred Arabian Handicap event for horses rated 70 and below.
Intishar had shed his maiden status a month ago winning a 1400m event. Yesterday, five days after an eighth place finish in a novice event, the four-year-old finished one and a half lengths ahead of Noora bint Sheail al-Kuwari’s Tarek Al Mels, trained by al-Ghazali’s son Mohamed. Khalfa, owned by Jassim bin Ali al-Attiyah, completed an al-Ghazali hat-trick at the top.
After an encouraging fourth-place finish in a strong Umm Salal Oaks Trials field three weeks ago, Julian Smart’s charge Enwa shed her maiden status in the Local Purebred Arabian Maiden Plate yesterday. Mullen, riding in the colours of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al-Thani, kept the Amer filly in top five as Abdullah Mohammed al-Kuwari and Sons’ Gunwa took the early lead with jockey JP Guillambert at the helm.
Going into the bend, Mullen had his ride steadily move up in third. Coming on to the home straight, Umm Qarn’s Amer filly Firdous and Enwa went past Gunwa. In the last 300m of the 1400m conditions event, Enwa’s turn of foot left everyone behind even as another Umm Qarn filly, Ablah II, mounted a charge, which didn’t yield much in the end. Enwa’s first win was a commanding six length victory over Umm Qarn duo Ablah II and Firdous.
Smart had another winner on the day in Thabit, who was ridden to a victory in the Local Purebred Arabian Novice Plate event by Marco Monteriso in the colours of Sheikh Mohammed.
In a thrilling end to the eight furlong event, the five-year-old grey horse just edged out Umm Qarn’s colt Fiteen and Subaiya Awad Ibrahim’s filly Bint Al Akaber for a win. The other horse to shed his maiden status on the day was Blazers Rock, a four-year-old bay gelding owned by Salem Fadgam Al Hajri & Sons. Yesterday’s Class 6 Thoroughbred Maiden Plate was Blazers Rock’s 34th outing and he won ahead of Mohammed bin Hamad Khalifa al-Attiyah’s Dubawi gelding Digital Rebellion and Injaaz Stud’s Stevie’s Wonder.
RESULTS
Race 1: 1. Enwa (Richard Mullen), 2. Ablah II (Jean Baptiste Hamel), 3. Firdous (Gaetan Faucon), 4. Fal Akhair (Darren Williams). Won by: 6, 4, 1. Time: 1:30.22. Owner: HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al- Thani. Trainer: Julian Smart
Race 2: 1. Blazers Rock (Darren Williams), 2. Digital Rebellion (Gerald Avranche), 3. Stevie’s Wonder (Tadgh O’Shea), 4. Atlantic Sea (Richard Mullen). Won by: Hd, 0.5, 0.75. Time: 1:35.36. Owner: Salem Fadgam al-Hajri & Sons. Trainer: S. al-Hajri.
Race 3: 1. Intishar (Stephan Ladjadj), 2. Tarek Al Mels (Tadgh O’Shea), 3. Khalfa (Marvin Suerland), 4. Heytham (Adrie de Vries). Won by: 1.5, 0.5, Hd. Time: 1:44.03. Owner: Injaaz Stud. Trainer: Jassim al-Ghazali.
Race 4: 1. Thabit (Marco Monteriso), 2. Fiteen (Jean Baptiste Hamel), 3. Bint Al Akaber (Gerald Avranche), 4. Tabasheer (Gaetan Faucon). Won by: Nk, Hd, 1. Time: 1:45.16. Owner: HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al-Thani. Trainer: Julian Smart.
Race 5: 1. Adwan (Jean Baptiste Hamel), 2. Enjoy Today (Stephan Ladjadj), 3. Fadak (Gerald Avranche), 4. Pat Mustard (Yanis Aouabed). Won by: 0.75, Nk, 0.75. Time: 1:34.94. Owner: Umm Qarn. Trainer: Alban de Mieulle.
Race 6: 1. Sir Guy Porteous (Richard Mullen), 2. New Pearl (Gaetan Faucon), 3. Rising Dawn (Gerald Avranche), 4. Tarrafal (Yanis Aouabed). Won by: Hd, Hd, Hd. Time: 1:22.23. Owner: Injaaz Stud. Trainer: Jassim al-Ghazali
Race 7: 1. TM Thunder Struck (Jean Baptiste Hamel), 2. Nashmi (Gaetan Faucon), 3. Raddad (Asad al-Seyabi), 4. Vetlana De Faus (Tadgh O’Shea). Won by: 5, 0.5, 1.25. Time: 2:11.14. Owner: Umm Qarn. Trainer: Alban de Mieulle.