Trainers Alban de Mieulle, Julian Smart share bragging rights in Qatar

Both trainers collect two wins on first day of Emir's Sword meeting.

Trainer Julian Smart won two races at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club. Ryan Carter / The National
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Alban De Mieulle and Julian Smart bid to continue their excellent form in Qatar tomorrow after the two trainers dominated proceedings on the first day of the three-day Emir's Sword meeting.

The trainers won two races each at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, and look to have a strong hand in the feature races tonight.

Smart struck first when Richard Mullen rode Aziz Al Shahania in the Purebred Arabian Plate, and the pair followed up just over an hour later with Shaklan in the mile handicap.

De Mieulle was not to be outdone, however, and took the Al Rayyan Cup with Baaria, while Fouladh won the Gulf Cup, the Group 2 Purebred Arabian feature.

Roi De Vitesse, ridden by Marc Monaghan, won the Group 3 Qatar 2022 Invitation Cup for thoroughbreds.

The centrepiece to tomorrow's seven-race card is the Group 1 Qatar International Trophy over a mile.

Sixteen runners have been declared for the Purebred Arabian contest with the globe-trotting trainers saddling six of them.

French international jockey Olivier Peslier is in the saddle for the first time on the British-bred Nashmi for De Mieulle and Umm Qarn. He also runs Muntasar and Farraaha for the Qatari racing operation.

Smart runs two for the Al Thani family with Mullen on Al Anga while Andrew Elliot takes the ride on Theeb.

Darren Williams rides Harran in the blue and white colours of Al Shahania Stud.

The thoroughbred action is headed by the Group 2 Qatar International, a race over a mile in which Marco Botti's Fanunalter is among the 17-runner field.

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