Al Ghariya Cup launches domestic racing season at Al Rayyan
- Season opener follows major international recognition for Qatari racing
- 518 races scheduled across 70 meetings, including 13 PA show horse races
Mdmar – Doha
The domestic horse racing season gets underway at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, with the opening meeting featured by the Al Ghariyah Cup held on Al Rayyan’s dirt track. The season opener comprises eight races across various distances and categories, launching a comprehensive 70-meeting programme recently published by QREC for both Al Rayyan and Al Uqda racecourses.
Al Rayyan will host 48 meetings, with the remaining 22 staged at Al Uqda. In total, the season features 518 individual races, including 13 races dedicated to Purebred Arabian show horses.
QREC management has allocated total prize money of QAR 88,763,000 forthe campaign, alongside QAR 735,000 for the Arabian show horse races. The two flagship features of the programme, the Group 1 HH The Amir Trophy for Thoroughbreds and the Group 1 PA HH The Amir Sword, carry a prize purse of $2.5 million each on the final day of the HH The Amir Sword Festival on 13 February 2027, standing as the richest prizes on the QREC calendar.
Feature race for season opener
For the opening meeting on Wednesday, 14 October, the main event will be the eighth race: the Al Ghariyah Cup, a Class 2 contest for Thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three and up over 1,200m, carrying a prize purse of QAR 120,000. The contest will reveal the season’s inaugural winner.
At last season’s curtain-raiser, Nano Toro (Toronado x Nawarah) claimed the first trophy of the 2025/26 campaign for owner Hassan Ali Abdulmalik, trainer Debbie Mountain and jockey Mohammed Hassan Al Abdulmalik, securing victory by half a length.
“Mdmar” website for horse racing and equestrian News
The second fixture of the campaign, featuring the Al Hamla Cup, takes place on Thursday on Al Rayyan’s turf track. Meetings will continue weekly on Wednesdays and Thursdays until Saturday, 14 November, when Al Uqda hosts its season opener with the Al Noof Cup Day, expanding the schedule to three weekly meetings across Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Major success for Qatari racing
The launch of the domestic season follows the conclusion of QREC’s overseas sponsorship campaign, culminated by the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The flagship event delivered further Qatari success on the track alongside organisational acclaim, reflecting the elevated the global standing achieved through QREC sponsorship over the years.
Ahead of the local curtain-raiser, Qatari racing secured further international validation following decisions ratified by the International Grading and Race Planning Advisory Committee (IRPAC) of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) during its meeting in Paris last week. Effective from this season’s edition of the HH The Amir Sword Festival, the HH The Amir Trophy for Thoroughbreds has been promoted to Group 1 status – the highest level in global horseracing. Additionally, the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cup has been elevated to Group 3 while both the Dukhan Sprint Cup and the Al Rayyan Mile Cup have been granted Listed status.
“Mdmar” website for horse racing and equestrian News
The HH The Amir Sword Festival will be staged over four days for the second consecutive year, running from 10 to 13 February 2027.
Major meeting dates
The domestic 70-meeting campaign features a strong lineup of marquee fixtures, several of which attract international entries. Beyond the headline HH The Amir Sword Festival (10–13 February 2027), key dates on the calendar include the Guineas and Barzan Cup Day on 29 October 2026, followed by The Late Sheikh Jassim Bin Mohammed Bin Thani Trophy (National Day Meeting) on 12 December 2026, the Qatar Oaks Day on 17 December 2026, and the Qatar International Derby on 19 December 2026.
Action continues into the new year with the HH Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khalifa Al Thani Trophy Meeting on 2 January 2027 and the HE Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani Rifle Meeting on 16 January 2027. Late-season highlights feature the HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani Trophy Meeting on 16 March 2027 before concluding with the Qatar Gold Sword & Trophy Day on 1 April 2027.
“Mdmar” website for horse racing and equestrian News
The “Mdmar” website which was Founded by Khaled Makhlouf in 2007 for horse and equestrian races is keen to cover and follow all competitions related to horses, from show jumping, Horseracing, speed and endurance races, and purebred Arabian horse beauty shows, which belong to the Arab Gulf countries at home and abroad in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the State of Qatar, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, and the Kingdom of Bahrain.
