The Festival features a total of 32 races across the four days at Al Rayyan Racecourse.
Doha, Qatar: Under the slogan “Our Legacy in the Lead,” the four-day H H The Amir Sword Festival gets underway today at the Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club (QREC), marking the first time that the flagship event is staged over four days, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of QREC.
The Festival features a total of 32 races across the four days at Al Rayyan Racecourse, with this year’s edition expected to deliver intense and high-quality competition for major prizes and titles.
The programme also includes the traditional “Al Sabiq” Championship, which brings together a group of promising Qatari riders and continues to attract strong interest.
The Festival opens with two days of racing on the sand track, featuring leading sand performers among both Purebred Arabians and Thoroughbreds.
Attention then shifts to the turf track on the third day, where one of the key races is reserved for local Thoroughbreds in the Al Rayyan Breeders Cup.
Al Shaqab's Al Ghadeer will be bidding not only to defend his title, but to win the H H The Amir Sword for a third consecutive time.
The closing day, also on turf, stages the Festival’s most prestigious contests, led by the H H The Amir Sword and the H H The Amir Trophy, each carrying prize money of $2.5m.
In what promises to be a particularly special renewal, Al Ghadeer will be bidding not only to defend his title, but to win the H H The Amir Sword for a third consecutive time.
Victory for Al Ghadeer, owned by Al Shaqab Racing, would secure a historic third triumph in the Doha Triple Crown, cementing his place in Purebred Arabian racing history. H H The Amir Trophy and Silver Sword
The international stature of the H H The Amir Trophy continues to grow, with this year’s renewal staged as an International Group 2 contest.
The race will feature Satono Glanz for the third consecutive year, carrying Japanese hopes of victory after finishing runner-up in each of the past two renewals.
He will not be the sole Japanese representative, with fellow Group 2 winners Byzantine Dream and Deep Monster also carrying the same hopes.
The H H The Amir Silver Sword is run over 2000 metres and will bring together 16 runners, including four of the leading Purebred Arabians from France.
Among them is Laffan, owned by Al Wasmiyah Farm and trained by Francois Rohaut, who remains unbeaten to date, including victory in the Group 1PA Qatar Arabian Trophy des Poulains.
He is joined, under the same colours and for the same yard, by Alhaarith, who finished fourth behind Laffan at Saint-Cloud that day. Meanwhile, the Festival’s closing day opens with Qatar’s biggest and most important domestic handicap, the H H The Amir Shalfa, contested over 2000 metres and restricted to horses that have qualified throughout the season.
Several other anticipated races add further depth to the card. The Group 1 PA Qatar International Cup for Purebred Arabians over 1600 metres features the classy Lino and last year’s fourth Jenkille Hipolyte.
The Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cup returns as an International Listed contest, with Point Lynas seeking to improve on last year’s second and General Panic back to defend his crown.
International interest is also strong in the Al Rayyan Mile, with Pacific Avenue and the Irish-trained Andab among the confirmed contenders.
