After 53 race meetings at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, as the final list of champions emerged, what became very evident is winning the big ones counts the most.
With the titles of the best owners, trainers and horses being decided on prize money, performing on the big day was very crucial.
And over the season, meetings like the Qatar International Derby and HH The Emir’s Sword Raceday gave the competitors an edge over the others in the fray.
Khalifa bin Sheail al-Kuwari topped the owners’ list having bagged 23 winners, with the total prize money earned at QR4.68million. HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani was second in the list, while HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani’s Umm Qarn completed the top three.
This was also the first time that the owner’s list was topped by an individual Qatari owner and not a big farm.
Al-Kuwari’s big race winners were HH The Emir’s Trophy winner The Blue Eye, Al Biddah Mile topper Opera Baron and HH The Emir’s Silver Sword winner Spaghetti. All three horses are trained by Jassim Ghazali, who retained the Champion Trainer title.
Dubawi colt The Blue Eye not only topped the four-year-old thoroughbreds category but also the overall standings. Among the three-year-old thoroughbreds, Opera Baron emerged as the winner.
Spaghetti picked up the honours among the four-year-old Purebred Arabians.
HH Sheikh Mohamed’s big race winner was Julian Smart-trained Gazwan, winner of the HH The Emir’s Sword (Gr1 PA).
Gazwan finished second only to The Blue Eye, a thoroughbred, in the overall standings but emerged as the top Purebred Arabian, and four-year-old and older Arabians.
Gazwan’s trainer Smart was second in the trainers’ list behind Ghazali, while Frenchman Alban de Mieulle, who works with HH Sheikh Abdullah’s Umm Qarn, finished third.
Harry Bentley brushed aside a setback early in the season when an ankle injury sent him out of action for a few weeks to retain the Champion Jockey title. Bentley rode many of al-Kuwari-owned winners to top the lists, ahead of Richard Mullen and third-placed Adrie de Vries.