The top Purebred Arabians wow Deauville

Doha Cup (Prix Manganate): Nour Al Maury heads to the Qatar Arabian World Cup

The 5-year-old PA mare Nour Al Maury is at the top of her game. She looks set to be one of the contenders for top honours in the forthcoming Qatar Arabian World Cup (Group 1 PA), the world’s top race for Purebred Arabians, which will be run at Paris-Longchamp during the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe weekend. Nour Al Maury was gaining her second consecutive G1 PA win (the pinnacle of excellence in horse racing), and this followed her victory in the Sheikh Mansoor Festival - Critérium des Pouliches at La Teste on July 10. Nour Al Maury carries the colours of the Qatari concern  Al Shaqab Racing. She was bred in the Haute-Garonne (Loire) region by Renée-Laure Koch, who oversees the running of the Haras de Maury. She is trained by Thomas Fourcy at Royan-La Palmyre (Seine Maritime).

On this card at Deauville on Tuesday, Nour Al Maury raced in the slipstream of the pacesetting Soko under jockey Christophe Soumillon. Exiting the final bend, she took the lead and raced to a comfortable victory. She accounted for the favourite Abbes, owned by Wathnan Racing, the stable of Sheikh Tamim Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar. Rb Kingmaker was a head further back in third. 

What they said...
 

Thomas Fourcy – the trainer of Nour Al Maury (1st) – Royan-La Palmyre (Charente Maritime)

"Nour Al Maury is in full bloom. She was coming off a good reappearance effort. I'd like to thank Al Shaqab for deciding to supplement her for this race, as this wasn't the original plan. The owner wanted to run for the pleasure of doing so, and he was right. This success is down to him! She will now have a small break before being prepared for the Qatar Arabian World Cup (G1 PA)."

Alban de Mieulle – the trainer of Abbes (2nd) – trained in Qatar but based at Morannes-sur-Sarthe (Maine-et-Loire) during the summer

"Whenever we run it in Europe, Abbes isn’t as effective in his action as he is on dry surfaces of the Middle East. I think we'll go straight to Abu Dhabi. He was in good shape, but he doesn’t seem to be able to find his bearings here."

Élisabeth Bernard – the trainer of RB Kingmaker (3rd) – La Teste (Gironde)

"RB Kingmaker has had a successful career in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He had a spell with one of my colleagues in France last year. He subsequently returned to the UAE, and on his return to France, he reappeared very well at Longchamp after being trained by his owner. Alas, today's race lacked pace, and given that he raced freely, that didn't work in his favour. Despite this, he ran on well at the finish. Relative to the future, I've advised his owner to bypass the Qatar Arabian World Cup because I think he'll come up against better horses. I've advised him to go for the Prix Dragon before returning to the UAE to campaign him there for the rest of the season."

Al Rayyan Cup (Prix Kesberoy): Bianca de Ghazal lords it

The G1 PA Al Rayyan Cup went to Bianca de Ghazal, who, in the process, gained the first victory of her career, which came about directly in a G1 PA race - the highest level of competition open to Purebred Arabians. The filly, trained at Mont-de-Marsan by Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte, came off a second at La Teste on 10 July. She carries the colours of the Sultan Hamad Matar Omaira Alshamsi - an owner based in the UAE. As her name suggests, Bianca de Ghazal was bred in France at the Haras de Ghazal, a stud based in the Tarn-et-Garonne region.

In this particular race run, which was part of the Tuesday card and run at a modest tempo, Bianca de Ghazal was initially held up for her run before showing good acceleration at the finish. She won by two and a half lengths at the main expense of Mureb, owned by Al Asayl, the stable of Abu Dhabi-born Sheikha Alyazia bint Sultan Al Nahyan. Al Jori ran third for trainer Jean de Mieulle. She defends the colours of Al Shaqab Racing.

What they said...
 

Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte – the trainer of Bianca de Ghazal (1st) – Mont-de-Marsan (Landes)

"Bianca de Ghazal's victory didn't surprise me. She came off a very good introductory effort, and I thought she would run well. They didn't go fast, meaning she didn't get caught out when the pace quickened. After that, she showed a neat turn of foot. She will head to the Qatar Arabian Trophy des Pouliches (G1 PA) at Saint-Cloud on October 4."

François Rohaut – the trainer of Mureb (2nd) – Pau (Pyrénées Atlantiques)

"The lack of pace did not suit Mureb. These are still young PA horses which need time to mature. The winner is certainly very good. Mureb will now go to Saint-Cloud, where we will be hoping for a race with more pace. The colt arrived at Deauville ten days ago. He was able to do his final piece of work here and get acclimatised."

Jean de Mieulle – the trainer of Al Jori (3rd) – based in Qatar but trained at Morannes-sur-Sarthe (Maine-et-Loire) during the summer

"I would have thought that Nahaba could have injected more pace in the race. The lack of pace was a problem at Al Jori. We'll have to do things differently next time. She's going to tackle the G1 PA race at Saint-Cloud. We will have to find a leader for her because she unfortunately pulled hard despite having lots of quality. However, she's rather relaxed when in the comfort of her stable. It’s something we need to work on."