MURAAQIB THE BEST ARABIAN MILER IN THE WORLD

A jewel in the crown of Arabian horse racing took place on the second day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival. The (Arabian G1) Qatar International Stakes, run over a mile and worth £400,000 in total prize money, was won in runaway style by six-year-old Muraaqib, carrying jockey Jim Crowley in the familiar colours of Sheikh Hamdan. Trained in France by Francois Rohaut, the winner scored by one and a half lengths and two lengths from Ebraz (9/4f), who was following up his second place in the same race last year, and Lightning Bolt (5/1).

There is a £1m bonus for any horse who wins the Arabian Triple Crown, comprising today’s race plus legs at Longchamp on Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Sunday in October, and at Doha in Qatar in February, but Rohaut does not expect Muraaqib to take in the French race, which is over 2,000 metres (about 10 furlongs).

Rohaut said: “He has been in my yard for four years now and in my eyes has always been a champion. He is the best Arabian horse I have trained and probably right now he is the best in the world, certainly at a mile. He was wearing blinkers for the first time today and it made a big difference – he was beaten last time out, but we wanted to keep them for today’s race. I don’t think he’ll go to Longchamp because he is so good over a mile, unless Sheikh Hamdan wants him to run there. He will go to Abu Dhabi [for a G1 race] in November.”