Suesa lands King George at Qatar Goodwood Festival

Suesa produced an incredible turn of foot to land the feature on the penultimate day of the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC)-sponsored Qatar Goodwood Festival on Friday. The 2021 renewal of the five-day Festival has had special importance with the return of racegoers to Goodwood and their presence has been very large despite the windy and rainy weather.
At her first attempt at five furlongs, the George Strawbridge-owned filly Suesa produced an incredible turn of foot to land the Group 2 King George Qatar Stakes, a 1,000m sprint feature for three-year-olds and older horses.
Trained in France by Francis Rohaut, it was Suesa’s second run in the United Kingdom, following her eighth-placed effort in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot. Yesterday, she was ridden to success by William Buick.
Hamad bin Abdulrahman al-Attiyah, QREC Vice Chairman and President of the Asian and the Qatar Equestrian Federations, crowned the winners.
Ridden confidently by Buick with plenty of cover in mid-division, Suesa travelled very strong through the early stages of the race. With a strong pace being set, Suesa got a good lead into the race and was not asked for an effort until just inside the two-furlong marker. Once the gap appeared, Suesa produced an electric turn of foot towards the stands side and quickly put the race to bed.
She galloped clear inside the final furlong and went on to score by three lengths. Dragon Symbol who looked threatening two furlongs out, finished second but was no match for the winner. Three-time Group One winner Glass Slippers ran well to take third on her seasonal reappearance. Favourite Battash failed to get a blow in and finished only seventh. “She’s such a sweetheart. I rode her at Ascot and the ground was terrible for her but I learned a lot that day. She is a real five-furlong filly and travelled through the race so smoothly. She gave a huge kick of speed when I asked her,” Buick said after the win.
Bred by Thomastown Farm Ltd, Suesa is by Newmarket 2,000 Guineas winner Night Of Thunder, who stands at Kildangen Stud in Ireland. Her dam, Sally Is The Boss, was unraced and is a half-sister to Shebogan who was placed at listed level. The second dam White Satin was also listed placed and was trained by Aiden O’Brien. The 2021 renewal of the Qatar Goodwood Festival concludes today with a seven-race card. The feature and fourth race is the Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes, a Group 2 for three-year-old and older fillies and mares over 2,800m. Al Wasmiyah Stud’s five-year-old Traisha will be in the fray and will be saddled by Joseph Patrick O’Brien and guided by Adam Kirby.
Six other fillies and mares will be vying for the title and the most notable of them are Christopher Wright’s four-year-old Wonderful Tonight, who is trained by David Menuisier and will be ridden by Buick, and Coolmore’s three-year-old Divinely, who is schooled by AP O’Brien and will be steered by Ryan Moore.