Receding Waves raced to his first victory in Qatar when Tadgh O’Shea rode the colt to victory for Mubarak al-Khayarin in the Ain Khaled Cup at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club yesterday.
The victory in the Thoroughbred race for three-year-olds with a rating of 95 and below was also the first for the jockey this season.
Owned by Sheail bin Khalifa al-Kuwari, the bay horse had won thrice before beginning his stint in Qatar earlier this year.
O’Shea had his ride make good use of a gap he found in the final furlong, and Receding Waves went past the field to beat Binzart, ridden by Darren Williams, narrowly for the top spot, while Bluebeard was third under Gerald Avranche.
The horse had never finished in the top three on his three outings before yesterday.
“That’s racing. But today he showed amazing speed to win this. I am very satisfied with his performance,” trainer Mubarak al-Khayarin, who has already won three out of four feature races in this season so far, told Gulf Times.
O’Shea was very pleased with the run.
“He is a very nice horse. I got a little bit held up in traffic. But when he got a clear run, I had a very willing partner. He responded really well to my urgings,” he said.
“This was my first time on him. Hopefully I will have a couple of more turns on him.”
Molheb Al Naif maintained an unbeaten start to his career, winning his second straight run under Marvin Suerland.
The grey son of Amer won the mile-long Local Purebred Arabian Handicap event, despite an erratic run late in the race – going wide on the final bend.
Suerland was, however, able to get his ride back into the race just in time, and Yousef Bentahar’s ward won, finishing more than three lengths ahead of Pier Convertino’s ride Bayriq. Dheeb Al Shajaa finished third.
After a string of top four finishes, Ahmed Kobeissi-trained Footprintinthesand raced to his first win in a year yesterday.
Yanis Aouabed rode the five-year-old to a comfortable three-length victory over six furlongs; the horse’s last victory was in a handicap event over 2000m.
Alban de Mieulle-schooled Mutawassal finished second, while Zahrah rounded up the top three.
Stephan Ladjadj was at the helm of Juventas and guided the chestnut filly to her first victory on the Doha turf in the Thoroughbred Plate for fillies and mares  rated between 66 and 80.
The Class 4 race, run over seven furlongs, saw Zuhair Mohsen’s ward Apicus finish second in her first race since shedding her maiden status last week.
Injaaz Stud’s Ventura Shadow and Abdulaziz al-Qathiri’s Queen Anne shared the third spot.
Umm Qarn and Alban de Mieulle finished with a one-two in the Purebred Arabian race for three-year-old fillies, with Humam shedding her maiden status ahead of stablemate and debutante Waqaar in the seven-furlong run.
Hassan al-Matwi’s Jalwa Al Jazeera finished third for the second straight week under Gerald Avranche.
Ibrahim al-Malki’s ward Al Uraiq Secret did well under Ladjadj to race to his second straight victory, when Sheikh Faisal bin Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani-owned colt won the Local Thoroughbred Plate for three-year-old colts and geldings.
Starting off wide from Gate 11, Ladjadj had his ride move into the lead on the back straight.
Coming on to the home stretch, while Musaiter Bu Thaila challenged the three-year-old leader briefly, Al Uraiq Secret had little trouble pulling away for a comfortable two and a half-length victory.
Marvin Suerland had kept Asaaf in the middle of the pack and got his ride to move coming on to the home stretch.
The run was good enough to overhaul Musaiter Bu Thaila for the second spot but not enough to snatch a win.
In the first race of the day, Alberto Sanna rode Azzam to victory for Stefano Ibido in the Thoroughbred Maiden Plate event.
Azzam did well to shed his maiden status on his second career outing in the longest race of yesterday’s card at 1850m.
RESULTS
Race 1: 1. Azzam (Alberto Sanna), 2. King Of Doha (Faleh Bughanaim), 3. Al Maftoon (JP Guillambert), 4. Media Book (Saleem Golam). Won by: Hd, 2 1/2, Nk. Time: 1:54.08. Owner: Abdulhadi Mana al-Hajri. Trainer: Stefano Ibido.
Race 2: 1. Al Uraiq Secret (Stephan Ladjadj), 2. Asaaf (Marvin Suerland), 3. Musaiter Bu Thaila (Alberto Sanna), 4. Shidad (Jean Baptiste Hamel). Won by: 2 1/2, Hd, 1 3/4. Time: 1:38.71. Owner: Sheikh Faisal bin Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani. Trainer: Ibrahim al-Malki.
Race 3: 1. Humam (Gaetan Faucon), 2. Waqaar (Jean Baptiste Hamel), 3. Jalwa Al Jazeera (Gerald Avranche), 4. AJS Mezna (Marco Monteriso). Won by: 1 3/4, 3/4, 8. Time: 1:33.56. Owner: Umm Qarn. Trainer: Alban de Mieulle.
Race 4: 1. Juventas (Stephan Ladjadj), 2. Apicus (Marvin Suerland), 3. Ventura Shadow (Tadgh O’Shea), 4. Queen Anne (Marco Monteriso). Won by: 2, Dh, Shd. Time: 1:23.12. Owner: Hassan Ali Abdulmalik. Trainer: Ibrahim al-Malki.
Race 5: 1. Footprintinthesand (Yanis Aouabed), 2. Mutawassal (Jean Baptiste Hamel), 3. Zahrah (Stephan Ladjadj), 4. Al Mansoor (Faleh Bughanaim). Won by: 3, 2 1/2, Shd. Time: 1:10.99. Owner: Mohamed Kazim al-Ansari & Sons. Trainer: Ahmed Kobeissi.
Race 6: 1. Molheb Al Naif (Marvin Suerland), 2. Bayriq (Pier Convertino), 3. Dheeb Al Shajaa (Tadgh O’Shea), 4. Ablah II (Dilshad Alam). Won by: 3 1/4, 6, 5. Time: 1:44.58. Owner: Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser al-Ahmed al-Thani. Trainer: Yousef Bentahar.
Race 7: 1. Receding Waves (Tadgh O’Shea), 2. Binzart (Darren Williams), 3. Bluebeard (Gerald Avranche), 4. Matara (Gaetan Faucon).  Won by: Nk, Shd, 1 1/4. Time: 1:22.08. Owner: Sheail bin Khalifa al-Kuwari. Trainer: Mubarak al-Khayarin.