QATAR ARABIAN TROPHY DES POULICHES - Balsam shines on a big day for Al Shaqab Racing
Just over an hour after winning the Qatar Arabian Trophy des Poulains (Gr1 PA), Al Shaqab Racing completed a double in the equivalent race for fillies, the Qatar Arabian Trophy des Pouliches (Gr1 PA). Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani’s operation thus retained its title in the race, one year after Subahiyah’s victory.
At Saint-Cloud on Friday, Balsam delivered this latest success. Trained in Mont-de-Marsan by Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte, the filly came into the race off a second-place finish in the Al Rayyan Cup (Prix Kesberoy) at Deauville.
Brought down the centre of the track by her jockey, Pierre-Charles Boudot, Balsam finished very strongly to win decisively. She beat Narbonne by two and a half lengths. Narbonne is trained by the same trainer but carries the colours of Yas Horse Racing Management. SS Lora finished third, a further length and a quarter behind. Favourite Neila Al Maury, also trained by Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte, had to settle for fourth place.entraînée par Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte, a dû se contenter de la quatrième place.
The technical result :
QATAR ARABIAN TROPHY DES POULICHES
1st BALSAM (P.-C. Boudot)
2nd NARBONNE (M. Grandin)
3rd SS LORA (A. Lemaitre)
Time: 2’22’’85. Margins: 2 1/5 – 1 1/4 – 3/4.
Connections’ comments
Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte, trainer of Balsam (1st), Mont-de-Marsan (Landes) “Balsam has a very good action and always does everything very easily. She is a good filly. Ever since her debut, we have built her programme around this race. At Deauville, she was beaten by a very good horse and by her lack of experience. Neila Al Maury, who finished only fourth, had to contend with a wide draw. I had asked her jockey to ride her at the back, and she finished very well.”
David Morisson, trainer of SS Lora (3rd), Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)
“We are not surprised by SS Lora’s performance. She is a filly we like a lot and she had only run once for us, at La Teste, where she was beaten by Narbonne, who finished second today. That form from La Teste was therefore good. We have liked her ever since she arrived at our yard from Poland. She had raced twice there and had finished second. She is doing her job well. She had already raced on this type of ground in Warsaw, so she was familiar with soft ground.”