His Excellency (H.E.) Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani-owned horse, Aspetar (Al Kazeem) took home brilliantly the Grand Prix de Chantilly (Gr2) at Chantilly, France, on Sunday. Ridden by James Doyle, Aspetar cantered on the outside of the field led by Silverwave (Silver Frost) at a good pace. He then accelerated in the middle of the track before taking the advantage over the leaders 100m from the post. He showed real courage to come and take the best at the end of the race.

Winner of a Listed at 3-years old, Aspetar finished second in the John Porter Stakes (Gr3) at Newbury in April, in good to soft ground. His last race was in the Prix dHdouville (Gr3), where he could not do better than fifth.

Shortly later, on the same day and at the same venue, the H.E. Sheikh Mohammed owned filly, Pelligrina gave her owner a second Group win on Sunday at Chantilly by winning the Prix de Royaumont (Gr3) and stayed unbeaten in two runs.

Trained by Andr Fabre, Pelligrina cantered at the back of the field before finding her way through the others 350m from the post. Once in the opening, she left no chance to her rivals. Indeed, the closest filly was Malevra, two and a half lengths behind. Je Ne Regretterien completed the podium.

Pierre-Charles Boudot was riding Pelligrina. He said: "She did very well today. She was already very pleased for her first steps in competition. She has a lot of stamina and the well-paced race helped her. She came very easily in front and slowed down a little. She is a very easy filly, who should continue to progress."

Pelligrina had only run once and won it on 13th May at Saint-Cloud. She was passing a real test today. Bertrand Le Metayer, the owners representative, said: "All the credit goes to Mr. Fabre who knew he could step her up like that. She has a good temperament. She is easy and relaxed. She has a lot of stamina also. It is a real success for us since she was bred at home." (QNA)

Cover image credit: Racing and Sports

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Nabeela

Content Writer

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