Lady Bowthorpe wins at Qatar Goodwood Festival

The 2021 renewal of the Qatar Goodwood Festival continued with some top quality racing yesterday, with Lady Bowthorpe taking top honours in the Group 1 Qatar Nassau Stakes in the presence of Yousef bin Ali al-Khater, Qatar’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, on Thursday. The first two days of the Festival saw some fantastic performances with top quality participation, in front of racegoers who turned out in big numbers.The Qatari success on the second day only added to the resounding success of the Festival with Khalifa bin Sheail al-Kuwari’s Lady Princess landing the Group 1 PA Qatar International Stakes and Al Shaqab Racing’s Armor taking the Group 3 Markel Molecomb Stakes. The small-sized but mighty five-year-old mare added a fourth Group 1 PA victory to her tally and kept the coveted title in Qatari hands for the third year in a row, cementing the country’s standing as the world-leader in Arabian racing. The two-year-old Armor, on the other hand, continued his impressive start in the racing world, emerging as a hero in the making with two victories in only three starts. A Group 3 win on his first attempt tells stories.Lady Bowthorpe much the best in NassauYesterday’s seven-race card featured the Group 1 Qatar Nassau Stakes for three-year-old and older fillies and mares over 2,000m. It was Lady Bowthorpe who landed top honours in the colours of Emma Banks for trainer William Jarvis and jockey Kieran Shoemark. Ambassador al-Khater presented the trophies to the winners after the race.Trying 2,000m for the first time in her career, five-year-old Lady Bowthorpe stayed on strongly to claim her first Group 1 success.Although there were only six runners, Prix de Diane winner Joan Of Arc set some quick fractions through the early stages, which allowed Lady Bowthorpe to settle well in mid-division. As the pace slowed on the turn for home, the field stacked up but it was apparent that Lady Bowthorpe was travelling well. Asked for an effort at the two furlong pole, the mare made a slick headway down the outside of the field, following the move of the eventual second Zeyaadah. Lady Bowthorpe proved much the stronger inside the final furlong and went clear of Zeyaadah to score by a length and a half. Joan Of Arc rallied well close home and took third. “It’s fantastic! We have dreamt of this race with her for a long time now. She has always shown to be a very special mare and we think the world of her. I am delighted for the team at home, it means so much to them and to her jockey Kieran. I was very confident that she would stay the trip and she did it well. She has a great turn of foot and settles very well in her races. She is just a superstar, we love her,” said Jarvis, who had not had a Group 1 winner since 1994.Asymmetric wins Richmond StakesEarlier yesterday, Al Shaqab Racing’s Ebro River and Jassim bin Ali al-Attiyah’s Gubbass were in the fray in the second race in the card, the Group 2 Unibet Richmond Stakes for two-year-old colts and geldings over 1,200m. The duo did very well and at a certain stage, the race looked like a duel between them. However, in the final stages the Leora Judah-owned Asymmetric, under signals from his jockey Martin Harley, came from behind to take the lead and win by half-a-length for trainer Alan King.Khunan was just after him in second. The Richard Hannon-trained and Sean Levey-ridden Gubbass and the Hugo Palmer-trained and James Doyle-ridden Ebro River stayed on strongly to finish third by only a nose and fourth by just a neck respectively.The Qatar Goodwood Festival continues today with a seven-race card, with the feature the Group 2 King George Qatar Stakes, a 1,000 sprint for three-year-olds and older horses. Al Shaqab Racing’s Qaysar will run in the Unibet Golden Mile Handicap, a class 2 mile for three-year-olds and older horses.