Al Shaqab’s Al Mourtajez has been lured out to the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club to run in next month’s €1.2 million (Dh4.8m) Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown.
The entries for the 1,600-metre race on November 13 were announced on Monday and Al Mourtajez will clash with last season’s inaugural winner Kalino in what is the world’s most valuable race for Purebred Arabians.
Al Mourtajez has stamped himself as the best of the breed in the world over the past two seasons.
Since he was beaten in the Emir’s Sword in Doha in February he has won his four Group 1 races in Europe this campaign by an aggregate margin of 24-and-a-half lengths.
“The form he is in at the moment he is definitely the one to beat,” Rupert Prichard-Gordon, racing manager for owners Al Shaqab, said.
“He is a horse who takes his racing really well without being overly extended. He is now a very mature horse and [trainer] Thomas Fourcy is very happy with him.
“It is not like he has run seven or eight times this year and all of his races have been well spaced out.”
Regular partner Julien Auge was aboard the six-year-old grey in all four of his European wins – the Coupe d’Europe Des Cheveaux Arabes at Deauville in May, the International Stakes at Goodwood in July, the Prix Dragon at Chantilly and the Arabian World Cup on Arc day three weeks ago.
Auge will once again partner the son of Dahess, his sire who raced five times in the UAE.
Kalino beat Sahabba and Thakif last season and the three will at least keep Al Mourtajez honest, while US Triple Crown winner Paddy Day also is an intended runner. Also among the 16 horses entered is Dubai Kahayla Classic winner AF Mathmoon.
“The suspense has ended and now all the connections of the 16 horses will begin their final preparations and we will be extending all support to the runners that arrive from outside the UAE,” Lara Sawaya, executive director of the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, said.
“We have also named the 16 lady jockeys and the 16 apprentice jockeys who will figure in the two finals of the Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship and the Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship races, which will support the feature race on November 13.”
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