QATAR ARABIAN WORLD CUP - Thanks to HM Alchahine, Élisabeth Bernard becomes the first woman to win the Qatar Arabian World Cup
QATAR PRIX DE L’ARC DE TRIOMPHE WEEKEND
QATAR ARABIAN WORLD CUP
Thanks to HM Alchahine, Élisabeth Bernard becomes the first woman to win the Qatar Arabian World Cup
The overwhelming favourite for the Qatar Arabian World Cup – the equivalent of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for Purebred Arabians – HM Alchahine proved clearly superior to his rivals.
Runner-up last year behind the untouchable Al Ghadeer, HM Alchahine recorded the sixth Group 1 PA victory of his career, and his third in succession. He came into the race on the back of a very impressive success in the Qatar Cup - Prix Dragon (Group 1 PA), a trial for the Qatar Arabian World Cup, run on September 6 at ParisLongchamp.
On Sunday, HM Alchahine beat the mare Hajmah by three-quarters of a length. She is trained at Les Mathes (Charente-Maritime) by Thomas Fourcy. Another female completed the podium: Chdia, trained by Alban de Mieulle, who is based at Morannes-sur-Sarthe (Maine-et-Loire) and in Qatar.
HM Alchahine is trained at La Teste (Gironde) by Élisabeth Bernard, who was recording her first victory in the race. She also becomes the first woman to win the Qatar Arabian World Cup.
HM Alchahine carries the colours of Emirati owner Helal Alalawi, who was also winning this race for the first time.
The official result
QATAR ARABIAN WORLD CUP
1st HM ALCHAHINE (C. Demuro)
2nd HAJMAH (P.-C. Boudot)
3rd CHDIA (J.-W. Doyle)
Time: 2’13’’84. Margins: 3/4 – SHORT HEAD – 5/4
Quotes from connections
Élisabeth Bernard, trainer of HM Alchahine (1st), La Teste (Gironde)
“This victory represents the fulfilment of a dream. I have been getting up every morning for so many years to experience days like this and to have a champion like him in my stable. So you cannot even imagine what this means to me. My husband, who died eleven years ago today, and I ran in this race many times and were beaten several times by a nose. And he died before he was able to win it. Today, I am proud to be able to associate this victory with his name, because I am Mrs Jean-François Bernard and this was his dream.
What he did was incredible, really. At the entrance to the home straight, it looked all over. I did not even watch half of the straight because I was so convinced it was finished. You must never lose ground in a race. Never. And yet that is all he did… A nightmare.
This year began with a nightmare and ends with a wonderful dream! England was a catastrophic episode, with a horse who was in peak condition being declared a non-runner by artificial intelligence and the veterinarian, who uses this application as well as her own eye to assess the physical condition of the horses.
Five days later, he ran at Deauville and was very impressive, winning that Group 1 at Deauville, which had not been part of his programme at all and came after four days travelling by lorry, without having been ridden, without having been trained.
That day, he proved to me that he was a true champion.
Of course, today is his last day under my care. His owner is also a trainer and is having a magnificent season in the United Arab Emirates and in the Gulf in general, so the horse will fly tomorrow to Dalai, which is the training centre where Mr Al Alawi is based.”
Thomas Fourcy, trainer of Hajmah (2nd), Les Mathes (Charente-Maritime)
“I am very satisfied, because we were beaten by a genuinely very good horse who came through strongly at the finish, and our mare never gave up. We are very pleased with her second place. She will have some very good races to run in the future...”
Alban de Mieulle, trainer of Chdia (3rd), Morannes-sur-Sarthe (Maine-et-Loire) and Qatar
“Chdia ran very well. What is amusing is that last year, in the Qatar Arabian Trophy des Juments (Gr1 PA), she finished very close to Hajmah and once again she has finished alongside her. The winner was a class above. She will now go to Qatar.”