Haman wins Lekhraib Cup in a thriller

In the colours of HE Sheikha Iman bint Mohammed bin Khalifa al-Thani Haman won the Lekhraib Cup at the QREC’s Al Uqda Racecourse on Saturday. For trainer Rudy Nerbonne, who saddled a 1-2-3-4 in the day’s feature - a 2,200m Purebred Arabian Handicap - the five-year-old son of Mared Al Sahra came out on top of the battle of stable-mates as he fought off the challenges of Yunus and Fayq Al Shahania to win by just a short head under jockey Lukas Delozier.
Stable-mate Hareeb came 4th under jockey Thomas Lukasek. In the process, Nerbonne also completed a double on the card.
Nerbonne was earlier in the winners’ enclosure, when Al Shahania Stud’s M’tawa El Saa’yeb won the 2,300m race for Purebred Arabian Handicap (65-85) for three-year-old+ under jockey Alberto Sanna.
Owner Wathnan Racing, trainer Alban de Mieulle and Jockey Soufiane Saadi also completed a quick double on the day when Jahanara won the 1,400m Local Purebred Arabian Open Race, for three-year-olds. Chdia grabbed the first title of the day for the trio with win in Purebred Arabian Graduation Plate.
Jockey Faleh Bughanaim set the pace in what was Al Uqda’s first Race Meeting after the venue had hosted the Al Rayyan events earlier this season.
Bughanaim won the Local Purebred Arabian Maiden Plate with Mohammed Ghazali-trained Hazaa Al Shahania and completed his double immediately steering Rasheda to Purebred Arabian Maiden Plate title.
Later, M’tawa El Saa’yeb (Purebred Arabian Handicap 65-85), Amjad Al Shajaa (Local Purebred Arabian Handicap) and Subzero (Thoroughbred Handicap 45-65) also notched up victories.
ResULTS1st Al Uqda Race Meeting
Lekhraib Cup WINNERS: (Horse, Trainer, Jockey) 1 - Lekhraib Cup - Purebred Arabian Handicap 85-105 (Class 2)
Haman, Rudy Andre Nerbonne, Lukas Delozier
2 - Local Purebred Arabian Open Race (3yo only) (Class 2)
Jahanara, Alban Elie De Mieulle, Soufiane Saadi
3 - Purebred Arabian Graduation Plate (3yo only) (Class 4)
Chdia, Alban Elie De Mieulle, Soufiane Saadi
4 - Purebred Arabian Handicap 65-85 (Class 4)
M’tawa El Saa’yeb, Rudy Andre Nerbonne, Alberto Sanna
5 - Local Purebred Arabian Handicap 55-75 (Class 5)
Amjad Al Shajaa, Mohammed Hassan Al Matwi, Youssef Lachhab *(-4kg)
6 - Thoroughbred Handicap 45-65 (Class 6)
Subzero, Abdulaziz Ali Al-Kathiri, Marco Casamento
7 - Purebred Arabian Maiden Plate (Class 6)
Rasheda, Jean de Mieulle, Faleh Bughanaim
8 - Local Purebred Arabian Maiden Plate (Class 6)
Hazaa Al Shahania, Mohammed Ghazali, Faleh Bughanaim