DOHA: The curtain will fall on Saturday on the 2024 renewal of Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC)-sponsored Qatar Goodwood Festival. The race meetings of the five-day annual festival continued over four days.
This year's edition has had special importance with the huge turnout of spectators at Goodwood, indicating the keenness to be part of the racing extravaganza, being a racing landmark in the UK and Europe.
Saturday's racing at Goodwood will see seven races and the feature will be the Gr.2 Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes. 12 fillies and mares will go under starters order, including the Group 2 winner Melo Melo owned by Wathnan Racing; the very consistent Free Wind, who will run in the silks of George Strawbridge; the recent Group 3 winner at Fairyhouse, Ireland, Grateful, trained by Aidan O'Brien; as well as last year's edition winner Sumo Sam.
The Festival's racing continued on the fourth day, Friday, with seven race, which saw two more wins in the colours of Wathnan Racing. Under James Doyle, Haunted Dream recorded a thrilling win in the Regent Seven Seas Cruises Bentinck Conditions Stakes, giving his trainer Hamad Al Jehani his first victory at Goodwood.
Only 30 minutes later were enough for Wathnan Racing's colours to go again to the winners' enclosure as Artagnan completed a quick-fire double for Wathnan Racing, claiming the Hawes & Curtis Nursery Handicap. The two-year-old colt is trained by K R Burke and was ridden by David Egan.
After an excellent third in the Gr.1 King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot on his last run, the three-year-old Big Evs (Blue Point) reversed the form with Asfoora (Flying Artie) to win the Gr.2 King George Qatar Stakes on day four of the Qatar Goodwood Festival.
Owned by RP Racing Ltd and trained by Michael Appleby, the superb colt has now won six races from nine starts.Ridden by Tom Marquand, Big Evs raced in second in a race led by Ponntos (Power). Left in the lead inside the final 400m, the son of Blue Point had to be tough to hold the late challenge of Australian raider Asfoora who only failed by a short head in second. Believing (Mehmas) ran a blinder from last to third.
Bred by Rabbah Bloodstock Limited, he is out of Hana Lina (Oasis Dream, who is a daughter of the Gr.1 winner and unbeaten Queen's Logic (Grand Lodge) and a half sister to dual Gr.2 winner & Gr.1 placed Lady Of The Desert (Rahy).
Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara Cultural Village, in presence of Salem bin Khejaim Al Adbi, QREC Director of Public Relations & External Communications and Marketing, crowned the winners after the race.