The Qatar Goodwood Festival in the United Kingdom enters its fourth day today, Friday, with many strong and exciting rounds being held on the historic Goodwood Racecourse, with the participation of dozens of classified horses seeking to achieve victories and confirm their eligibility to participate in this major international festival. The festival is being held under Qatari sponsorship for the tenth consecutive year, which has added more momentum to the events and racing program during the festival. Qatar Tourism, represented by Visit Qatar, also recently announced the extension of the partnership with Goodwood Racecourse for several years, starting next year 2025. This partnership is a continuation of the successful cooperation with the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, which has been crowned with success over 10 years since the launch of the Qatar Goodwood Festival in 2015.
Today, 7 races will be held, and all eyes will be on the King George Qatar Stakes, a Group 2 race, in which 13 horses will participate, including: “Rogue Lightning”, owned by Wathnan Racing, who won a Classifier title; “Big Eves”, who achieved a Group 1 victory at Santa Anita Racecourse in the United States under the supervision of trainer Michael Appleby; “Blessing”, owned by Highclere Teabreed Racing, who recently won a Group 2 race; and “Jusoor”, who won the trial race for the Commonwealth Cup Stakes, a Group 3 race at Royal Ascot.
The festival races continued yesterday, Thursday, with 9 rounds held amidst great success, which is not strange for the Qatar Goodwood Festival. The most important round was the Qatar Nassau Stakes, a Group 1 race for purebred female horses aged 3 years and over, over a distance of 2000 metres, which was won by the filly “Opera Singer” (Justify x Lescana), owned by M. Tipper/Dee Smith/Mrs. J. Magnier/Westberg, supervised by trainer Aidan O’Brien and ridden by jockey Ryan Moore. The champion filly returned to victories since winning the Qatar Marcel Boussac Prize, a Group 1 race, last October in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
The round witnessed the participation of 9 horses, including two from Al Shaqab, Sparkling Plenty and Doha. The competition was strong between them, and “Opera Singer” excelled as a result of the success of jockey Ryan Moore, who topped the jockeys’ rankings in the festival with 3 wins, in dealing with the course of the round and his ability to reach the finish line ahead of the rest of the participants.
After finishing second in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes on her previous Royal Ascot start, the three-year-old Opera Singer (Justify) continued her progress to win the Qatar Nassau Stakes and add to her tally of Group 1 wins.
With jockey Ryan Moore, Opera Singer surged with tremendous power and speed from the starting gate to occupy the lead throughout the race. Upon entering the final straight, she was leading by half a length over Lumiere Rock (Saxon Warrior) and a clear lead over the rest of the horses. It was also clear how much she outperformed her competitors, despite Sea The Fire (Sea The Stars) trying to enter the competition strongly in the last moments. Opera Singer achieved the victory, and Sea The Fire came in second place, under the logo of J.C. Smith and under the supervision of trainer Andrew Bolding and under the leadership of jockey Ocean Murphy. Sparkling Plenty (Kingman), owned by Al Shaqab Racing, under the supervision of trainer B. Cotter and under the leadership of jockey Christian Demeuro, was satisfied with third place, and could have advanced to the lead had it not been for the late surge from the jockey. Sparkling Plenty recorded her first participation today under the logo of Al Shaqab Racing, noting that she had previously participated with another owner, and in the last two participations before today she achieved two victories. Consecutive from the second class and then from the first class.
In contrast, “Doha”, owned by Al Shaqab Racing, trained by Ralph Beckett and ridden by jockey Hector Crouch, came in fifth place.
Following the end of the round, His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the United Kingdom, and in the presence of His Excellency Issa bin Mohammed Al Mohannadi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, crowned the winners of this round.
The festival races were attended yesterday by His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Issa bin Mohammed Al Mohannadi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, Hamad bin Abdulrahman Al Attiyah, President of the Asian Equestrian Federation and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, Bader Mohammed Al Darwish, Acting CEO of the Club, Khalifa bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, Board Member, Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Abdulmalik, Board Member, Abdullah bin Rashid Al Kubaisi, Director of Racing Department, Ahmed Al Shaibani, Director of Support Services Department, and Salem bin Khajim Al Athba, Director of Public Relations, External Communications and Marketing Departments at the Club.
Salem Al-Adhba: Thank you Qatar Tourism.. Our youth are up to the responsibility
Salem bin Khajim Al Athba, Director of Public Relations, External Communications and Marketing at Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, expressed his happiness with the level achieved by the Qatar Goodwood Festival after the end of its third day. Al Athba said: For the tenth consecutive year, Qatar has proven that its sponsorship of the festival has yielded very positive results, whether in terms of competition or interest in the Purebred Arabian horse races. The day before yesterday, we saw how the horse Al Ghadeer, owned by Al Shaqab Racing, was able to steal the spotlight and win the Qatar International Stakes for Purebred Arabian horses, which is the first round of the Triple Crown, which he won this year for the first time, as the horse “Ebraz” did before. I congratulate Al Shaqab Racing, His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani and his sons on the victory of “Al Ghadeer”, through which he demonstrated his ability to continue on the path of victories for a longer period and achieve the Triple Crown for the second time in a row, in an unprecedented achievement.
Al-Athba added: The participation of Qatari students studying in the United Kingdom in organizing the festival is a distinguished step by the Qatari Cultural Attaché in England, and our students had great passion and proved that they are up to the responsibility.
Al-Adhabi concluded: Extending the sponsorship of the Qatar Goodwood Festival will constitute a qualitative shift in the course of this event, and I extend my greetings to the brothers in Qatar Tourism for this wonderful step that will have a great positive impact in the coming two years 2025 and 2026 from the Qatari sponsorship of the festival, and the name of the festival will change to “Visit Qatar Goodwood Festival” starting next year.