Chopin wins $1 million HH The Emir’s Trophy Presented by Longines in Qatar

With jockey Alberto Sann at the helm, Chopin came in strongly ahead of Noor Al Hawa in second and Fundamental in third.

The Emir’s Trophy was the feature race for Thoroughbreds and the co-feature – with the $1-million HH The Emir’s Sword for Purebred Arabians – on Saturday’s card. Together the pair of races brought to a close three days of racing at the HH The Emir’s Sword Festival at Al Rayyan which saw an unprecedented 29 international horses take part,

Expectations were high for Chopin in the Emir’s Trophy having flourished since being bought from Europe to Bahrain in 2015, winning three local Group 1 races. He was given two useful warm-ups for this race, the most recent coming in a victory over 2000 metres at the start of the month.

Fundamental took up the running, leading the field around the first two bends. Sana had Chopin tucked in under cover in about fifth, and when they straightened for the backstretch run he bolding adjusted him to the outside from where Chopin took over the lead.

The bay promptly opened up about four lengths on the field which lengthened to six on the third bend. From that position Chopin did not look like coming back into the field as they reached the top of the straight, successfully reaching the line four lengths to the good.

Last December’s Qatar Derby winner Noor Al Hawa, who is trained by Chopin’s former conditioner Andreas Wohler, got up for second, whilst Fundamental made a brave re-rally after his initial exertions to be third.

Connections from Al Shahania Stud enjoyed their moment in the spotlight one race later when the Purebred Arabian Ebraz won the HH The Emir’s Sword.

Also worth $1 million but more popular race among the locals, The Emir’s Sword is the world’s most prestigious Arabian race and the final leg of the international Triple Crown for Arabians, following the Qatar International Series at Goodwood and the Qatar Arabian World Cup at Chantilly.

Al Mourtajez was widely expected to complete the triple and made a similar mid-race rally to that of Chopin, but the grey ran out of fuel in the end as Ebraz put in a bold late run to take the spoils by three and a half lengths.

Victory was particularly pleasing for Al Shahania trainer Julian Smart, who was winning the race for the second straight year.

The HH The Emir’s Trophy presented by Longines marked another successful conclusion to the Emir’s Sword Equestrian Festival. Held annually at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, the festival is one of the most definitive equestrian events on Qatar’s horse-racing calendar attended by both a strong local contingent and many from Europe.