International runners for Derby meeting
Derby Italiano winner MAC MAHON will make the trip to Qatar along with two Germany-based horses, NORTHSEA STAR and PARVIZ, for the USD500,000 Qatar Derby Gr1 on Saturday, 30 December, according to the declarations announced by QREC released on Wednesday.
Owned by Japan’s Takaya Shimakawa, Mac Mahon is trained by Alduino Botti, and the 3yo was the seventh winner of the Derby Italiano for the Botti family.
Northsea Star, trained by Markus Klug, won in Munich in November in a 2200m Conditions event and he is rated behind Mac Mahon along with the Jassim Mohammed Ghazali Jahromi-schooled REAL VALUE at 108.
The Waldemar Hickst-saddled Parviz had topped the German Derby trial in Hanover in June and will be looking to build on some creditable performances since when travelling to Qatar.
The packed field will see some of the top rated Thoroughbreds from Qatar vying for a race that has been won by internationally-trained horses in the last two years, including Noor Al Hawa, trained by Germany’s Andreas Wohler, in 2016, and a dead heat between South Africa’s Tannaaf and Germany’s Rogue Runner in 2015. Roman Legend, trained by Jassim Mohammed Ghazali Jahromi, was the last Qatar-trained horse to have won the race.
Champion Trainer Jassim Mohammed Ghazali Jahromi will also have DARBUZAN in the fray, who will begin life in Qatar on the back of some strong wins in France.
The Abdulatif Hussain Al Emadi-owned PAZEER has hardly put a foot wrong this calendar year winning thrice over a mile while finishing in the frame three other times. Ibrahim Saeed Ibrahim Al Malki’s ward will have Eduardo Pedroza, who had helmed Germany’s Rogue Runner in the Derby win two years ago, for company.
In the Qatar Derby for Purebred Arabians, Umm Qarn’s YAZEED and H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani’s EBRAZ will renew their rivalry on Saturday, December 30. The Alban Elie Marie de Mieulle-trained Yazeed had won their last duel by a quarter of a length in the Purebred Arabian Guineas earlier this month.
ATEEJ has moved yards since winning the Qatar Derby for 3yo Arabians last year and will race for trainer Francois Rohaut while Thomas Fourcy’s ZIKREET will represent Al Shaqab Racing in the 2000m race.
British Trainer Roger Teal will get TIP TWO WIN to race in the seven-furlong Al Rayyan Stakes, which will be held on Friday, 29 December, 2017.
The Jassim Mohammed Ghazali Jahromi-trained ANIMA ROCK and the Hadi Nasser Rashid Al Ramzani-saddled BERKELEY SQUARE are the two top-rated runners for Qatari owners in the race.
Another Al Ramzani ward, ROCKIN FELLA, and the Deborah Mountain-schooled BLACK ORANGE had impressed in a six-furlong plate event earlier this month with the former winning by a little under a length.
