Action from the Group 2 Prix Carthage-Hannibal Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup in Toulouse, France on Friday.
Khataab (Amer), racing in the colours of Qatar’s Al Shaqab Racing, won the Group 2 Prix Carthage-Hannibal Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup in Toulouse, France on Friday.
The race was led by Prada T (Djendel) and Thabit (Munjiz), who were closely tracked by the eventual winner and Mehdaaf Athbah (Amer).
Turning into the straight, Jérôme Cabre began to ask Khataab to go on. Once he found his balance, coming up the middle of the track, he pulled clear. He crossed the line on his seasonal debut with two lengths in hand.
Mehdaaf Athbah took second. Meblsh (Amer) was an unexpected third.
Coming into the Prix de Carthage, Khataab had never won so easily. Successively a close third in the Qatar Derby for 4-year-old Arabians (Gr1 PA), then in the President of the UAE Cup – UK Arabian Derby (Gr1 PA), Khataab won his first Group at the end of October 2016 in the French Arabian Breeders’ Challenge – Classic (Gr2 PA) at Toulouse.
After his second victory at this level on Friday, Thomas Fourcy said: “In the past I had some difficulty getting him in proper form. For the moment, he seems to be really well. He’s a horse that will improve with age. He came up the straight well, which was nice to see as he previously had a tendency to pull himself up once he hit the front. It’s encouraging for the rest of the year.”
It is worth mentioning that Al Shaqab also won the 2015 edition of the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Gr2 PA) (Prix de Carthage – Hannibal) and that was through Al Mouwaffak.
