Action during an earlier edition of the Qatar Goodwood Festival, in this file photo.
Doha, Qatar: The Qatar Goodwood Festival 2023 will kick off at the Goodwood Racecourse in UK today and enthrall audiences till Saturday.
Patronised by Qatar and represented by Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) with the participation of various segments and large crowds, the festival provides for a truly ‘Glorious’ race week.
The Qatar Goodwood Festival is one of the undisputed highlights of the British flat-racing season. The world famous five-day festival, affectionately known as ‘Glorious Goodwood’, presents spellbinding sport and an occasion like no other, unrivalled style, scintillating racing and hospitality – making for an exquisite week where some of the greatest stars in horse racing are crowned.
Providing a fitting curtain raiser in Group 1 will be the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup. First run in 1812, the two-mile contest is worth £500,000 and has housed innumerable champion stayers over the years.
Spearheading day two will be the milers in the £1m Qatar Sussex Stakes, before the fillies strut their stuff on Ladies Day with the Qatar Nassau Stakes providing the feature spectacle.
The finale on day five sees the fastest racehorses in the world contest the King George Qatar Stakes before arguably one of the most competitive handicaps in the Coral Stewards’ Cup on Saturday.
The organising committee seeks to have a successful festival this year under the Qatari patronage that has been continuing since 2015 and gained a special reputation through the global presence.
Ahead of the festival launch, QREC Chairman of the Board of Directors Issa bin Mohammed Al Mohannadi said that QREC seeks further successes in the festival this year as it has a robust partnership with the Goodwood Festival and which has generated a productive cooperation over the past years, pointing out that the Qatari presence at the festival has always been outstanding and has contributed to further progress of the grand event.
Al Mohannadi praised the cooperation with partners in this event, including Qatar Airways and the Embassy of the State of Qatar in UK which contributes to having a successful Qatar Goodwood Festival in expression of the status of Qatari equestrianism at the global level.
The festival also gained special fame through the large international presence of the horse racing enthusiasts as well as traditional festivities on all days of the event.
There will be Qatari participation, both at the level of officials of Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, who pay great attention to the event and in participation of Qatari owners with their horses in some of the festival’s runs – both purebred Arabian horses and purebred horses.
The focus will be on the Qatar International Stakes (the first category for purebred Arabian horses), in which Qatari owners are looking forward to continuing excellence with their horses.
On the first day, eight races will take place including the Al Shaqab Goodwood Stakes over a distance of 3200 meters. On the second day, the Qatar International Stakes for horses over 4 years will be held over a distance of 1600 meters. On the same day, Qatar Sussex Stakes Group 1 will be run over 1600 meters.
The third day of the festival will also witness eight races including the Qatar Nassau Stakes Group 1 over 2000 meters while on the fourth day of the festival, the Markle Magnolia Cup will be run over 1100 meters, and the King George Qatar Group 2 will be held over 1000 meters for horses 3 years old and over.
On the fifth and final day of the festival will see the Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes Group 2 over a distance of 2800 meters for horses 3 years old and over.
