Catch A Wave clinches Umm Al Afai Cup
Four winners for trainer Jassim Ghazali
ENGINEER Hassan Alabdulmalik-owned Catch A Wave pulled off an upset and clinched the Umm Al Afai Cup, the feature event of the nine-race card in 23rd Race Meeting, ahead of favourite and higher-rated Midsummer Knight.
At the Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club Racecourse’s dirt track, the six-year-old bay gelding, a Deborah Mountain ward, delivered a thrilling sprint under rider Ryan Curatole to beat Zarandi by two lengths and a three quarters to end his winless run of 13 races.
Zarandi, owned by Saeed Nasser al Qadi, was looking for a second win in a row. Ridden by Caralos Henrique, it belied its low rating to edge Khalifa bin Sheail al Kuwari’s Midsummer Knight by nose to spoil a fine day of trainer Jassim Ghazali, who had four winners in the day before the concluding race.
Noble Masterpiece, another Ghazali trainee, was fourth by quarter of a length and Connery, also eyeing a second triumph in succession, was fifth by one and a quarter lengths.
This was the first victory of the season for Catch A Wave in six races. Overall, this was the third triumph in 35 starts with the second one coming on November 22, 2018 in the Thoroughbred Graduation Plate (Class 5) 1,000m.
Earlier, Curatole guided Jassim al Attiyah-owned Aneeq to a second triumph as the six years old bay horse beat Aaila by one and a half lengths to win the Purebred Arabian Handicap 1,700m. This result improved his winners to three in 16 races.
Ghazali’s trainees – Kuwari-owned-Tadeem,
Masnoor al Mahmoud-owned Tadeem, Injaaz Stud-owned
Qate’e and Jassim al Attiyahowned Rassan - shone well to win four races.
Rassan’s victory in the Purebred Arabian Conditions 1,200m was superb. Harry Bentley steered the 10-yearold grey horse to a splendid one-length victory over Shabih Alreeh, with Ronan Thomas astride. Lekhraib, saddled by Injaaz Stud, was third. This was the 18th winner in 57 starts for veteran Rassan and first in three runs in the season.
Riders Bachelot (Al Junood and Qate’e) and Bentley (Rassan and Tadeem) completed a double each on the Ghazali trainees. Rex Place and AJS Jamra enabled Ronan Thomas to secured a double. Edardo Pedroza guided Immoral, an Al Azraq Stable runner trained by Mohammed Jassim Ghazali, to a sevenlength victory over Romantic Heart in the Thoroughbred Handicap (Class 5) 1,900m run. This was the first race of Immoral in Qatar.