Not so long ago, just two weeks ago, two significant shows in the Middle East ended. The first show in the Global Champions Arabians Tour series (total prizes of EUR 4 million) and the Arabian Peninsula Horse Show (a show for Straight Egyptian horses) took place in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The festival lasted for 9 days, it was a really intense and exciting time, and in addition to two shows and auctions, we also participated in the Open Days of the Al Jassimya Farm and Al Shaqab Qatar Foundation stud farms.
The hosts once again demonstrated very high standards in organizing the event and the number of horses entered in the show. The bar has been set exceptionally high. A very large sandy ring was covered on three sides with a giant tent for the audience and VIP guests. Everything is built in a traditional Arabic style, imitating a Bedouin tent, with lots of accessories such as lamps, carpets, and decorations with leather accents. The fourth wall of the ring was the charming sea. The waters of the Persian Gulf transported the audience to a different reality. The food offered and the smell of Arabic coffee with cardamom took us to the Middle East in a more literal way of experiencing our surroundings. The interior of the tent was a combination of brown and beige colors, red accents in the form of fringes on the ceiling and flowers in the arena emphasized the desert atmosphere, and golden accessories, including ornamental lamps, gave chic and elegance. The intertwining of tradition and modernity sounded perfect here, and the hospitality of the local people was sincere.
During the day, the landscape and surroundings were quite phenomenal – turquoise water, white seaside sand and top-quality horses were undoubtedly a successful combination. And all the magic actually began under the cover of darkness. The image of a perfectly lit ring against the background of the sea with boats moored at the shore and horses running into the ring would enchant anyone. It looked sensual and took you to a world different from our European shows.
The festival began with the opening of the Global Champions Arabians Tour and the competition of yearling horses and two-year-old fillies. The most outstanding of the bunch was the gold medalist of yearlings, the grey D Nafayes (D Seraj – D Danat by SG Labib), beautifully feminine, endowed with wonderful type, who proved her quality at many shows. The silver was won by the beautiful, bay daughter of the stallion Dominic M and the mare Weaam Al Jassim by Emerald J, of Sultan Al Thamer. Teha Al Shaqab (Marwan Al Shaqab – Marbella PCF by Exxalt) defended her bronze medal.
In the yearling colts competition, the gold medalist and therefore the champion was the son of two World Championship gold medalists – Afreen Al Shaqab (D Mezyan – Siwar Al Shaqab by SMA Magic One), a complete and very future-proof horse. The silver was won by D Borkan, who is the son of the legendary stallion FA EL Rasheem and the mare D Ajayeb, who is undefeated on the world rings, by RFI Farid. Both stallions won in their sections in the yearling classes and received the same final points. The bronze medal went to Mushwash Al Shaqab (Haash OSB – Shaikha Al Shaqab by Kahil Al Shaqab).
In the very exciting junior mares category, the bay Shahalel Al Shaqab (Na-Mous Al Shahania – Siwar Al Shaqab by SMA Magic One), unrivaled and undefeated since the beginning of her career, turned out to be the best this time, winning the gold medal. She is the daughter of by far most valuable mare present in Al Shaqab – Siwar Al Shaqab (SMA Magic One – Abha Myra by Marwan Al Shaqab), twice a gold medalist in Menton and World Champion Mare in 2021. However, the well-known and richly titled Dubai-based D Najlah (D Seraj – Elle Flamenca by Ajman Moniscione), also a fantastic type, won the silver medal in this fierce competition, despite the highest score in all youth classes. The bronze went to the Brazilian, chestnut-colored horse, also well known from Europe, Shahbrys HVP (Royal Asad – Rebecca HVP by Magnum Chall HVP).
In the junior stallion category, Aljassimya Farm undoubtedly dominated. Bandar Aljassimya (Picasso Di Mar – Miznat Aljassimya by Monther Al Nasser) took part in the decoration ceremony with a gold medal and the title of champion. The 2022 Gold Medalist of the Yearling Stallions of the World Championships, Menton and Aachen, Baz Aljassimya (Exxalt – MD Mirka by AJ Thee Luca), finished the competition with a silver medal. The judges awarded D Shakhara (D Shakhat – D Shamkhan by FA El Rasheem) with the bronze.
The time has come for the most anticipated confrontations of the entire event, the clash of real show titans – the Senior Mare Championship and the Senior Stallion Championship. One by one, they ran into the ring, mostly grey, but also bay and chestnut, with titles on many continents, and each of them was probably offered millions of euros. And so, the phenomenal AJ Kayya (AJ Kafu – Aja Caprice by EKS Alihandro) won the gold medal by the majority of the judges’ votes. With age, she has dried beautifully, which incredibly highlights her femininity and delicacy. In the ring, she still has the killer charisma for which she is so well known. The silver medal was won by Dubai’s D Shihanah (FA El Rasheem – D Shahla by Marajj), who is one of the most successful show mares in the world. Her offspring are also starting to win medals in major shows. The bronze medal was a Polish accent. It was won by the grey Emarella (Sahm El Arab – Emandorella by Eden C), bred in Michałów and owned by the Qatari Aljassimya Farm, who is a granddaughter of the timeless Emandoria. I wonder if she will follow in her grandmother’s footsteps and one day reach for a gold medal at the World Championships.
It’s time for the older stallions, i.e. the gladiator clash in the arena. In one ring, at the same time, bursting with excitement and testosterone, full of masculinity and self-confidence, they delighted the gathered audience. The stands went crazy! It was not just a fight for medals, but mainly for honor, pride and prestige. Everyone assumed that after the phenomenal stallion was withdrawn from the finals, Alexxanderr, E.S. Harir and D Seraj would compete for gold! Ultimately, it was won by the dazzling, snow-white E.S. Harir (AJ Dinar – TF Magnums Magic by Magnum Psyche), who was chosen by 10 out of 11 judges present in the ring. It is worth mentioning here that the judges were randomly selected by computer, which was intended to maintain independence in the finals. The silver went to the fabulous D Seraj (FA El Rasheem – Ladi Veronika after Versace). The Gold Medalist of the World Yearling Stallion Championships in 2019, the male and mature Rhan Al Shahania (Marwan Al Shaqab – Jwaaher Al Shahania by FA El Rasheem), won the bronze medal after a 5-year break in shows.
In addition to the champion titles, there will be cash prizes worth a total of QR 16,080,000 (EUR 4,180,000). Prizes were awarded to places from 1 to 6 in classes and the Top 10 of each championship. The classification for the ranking has also begun, which includes 7 shows from the Global Champions Arabians Tour series (on the day of the final in Doha, the next city where the GCAT 2025 show will take place was announced – London). This year’s entire series will end with a show in Paris, during the World Championships (December 6-7-8, 2024), and the next stop on this exciting adventure is the show in Abu Dhabi, which is being held this days in UAE.
Currently, the first place in the GCAT main ranking is the mare AJ Kayya, the second place belongs to the yearling D Nafayes, and the third place goes to Shahalel Al Shaqab. Each of them scored 20 points. E.S. Harir is in first position in the main stallion ranking, next is Afreen Al Shaqab, and Bandar Aljassimya is third, just like in the classification mentioned above, each of them scored 20 points. The latest GCAT ranking is the best trainer, currently number 1 is Raphael Curti, who scored 55 points, followed by Giacomo Capacci also with a total of 55 points, and Paolo Capecci was third with 54 points in the ranking.
The GCAT closing ceremony blew everyone away. The sky lit up with millions of colors, the fireworks and drone show was truly unique. The Qataris are known for their drone shows being some of the most sophisticated and simply the best in the world. Bewilderment and delight. The quality of the horses was certainly satisfactory and we can safely consider this event a very successful one.
After the first of the series of GCAT shows and the auction that we described earlier on the website, there was a moment for a show called the Arabian Peninsula Horse Show – a competition of purely Egyptian horses. The audience was much smaller than during GCAT, and the quality of the horses, with a few exceptions, especially in the youth classes, left much to be desired.
The gold in the yearling fillies competition was won by the beautiful Brooq Al Shaqab (Shagran Al Nasser – Laian Al Shaqab by Al Adeed Al Shaqab), who received the highest score in all yearling fillies sections, as much as 92.21 points. The gold and the highest score in the yearling colts group was taken by AKM Lusail (Shaheen AA – Aisha by Kamal).
Among the junior mares, the gold was won by the amazing Leena Al Nasser (Naseem Al Rashediah – Nadrah Al Nasser by Shagran Al Nasser), with a phenomenal head and type, as evidenced by the “20s” for these features and the final score, which was as much as 92, 93 points. Photos of a grey mare with an extremely slim head and a beautiful expression were circulating on social media. This is Leena Al Nasser. Ora Nasamat (Naseem Al Rashediah – Bint Sadaf El Asil by Al Ayal AA), despite the highest score in the junior mares’ classes, took the silver medal, scored an extraordinary score of 93.21 points in her section and most of the 20s for type and great movement . The Dubai-bred D A’Beer (Safeer Al Wadi – D Afaf by Frasera Mashar) returned with a bronze medal. In the junior stallion competition, the one who stood out the most from the entire group was the gold medalist Nader Al Ghanayim, another very decent offspring of a stallion bred by a Bahrain stud – Naseem Al. Rashediah.
The senior mares’ championship finally produced some real bombs, it was nice to watch these classes. With a score above 93 points. the milky grey mares pleased everyone’s eyes. The gold was won by the extremely feminine, with a beautiful black eye, Menouah Al Rayyan (Fares Al Rayyan – Bint Mesoudah M HP by Ashhal Al Rayyan). The silver medal was won by D Afaf (Frasera Mashar – Esa Arieanna Express by RZA Orienteexpress), who won her class with a total score of 93.57 points. The last place on the podium was taken by the phenomenal Zawaher Fila (Murtajab Al Nakeeb – Zahrana by Aybac), who dazzled everyone with her phenomenal movement.
In the senior stallions competition, the gold was won by another descendant of the stallion Naseem Al Rashediah – GJ Faheem, the silver went to D Tarooq by Asfoor Al Waab, who outperformed GJ Faheem in the class, receiving as many as 93.36 points from the judges. Purely Egyptian horses have a significantly different exterior than the Arabians known to us from international show rings. First of all, they take a long time to mature, as the youth classes have shown, that sometimes they turn from ugly ducklings into shiny swans.
To sum up the entire festival in Qatar – it is a paradise for Arabian horse lovers. When assessing the horses that performed during the GCAT, it is safe to say that their quality increases every year. This is a good sign that Polish Arabians of high quality can also do well at such a powerful show. Doha had a very strong start and whetted the appetite for subsequent editions. Such events are a needed experience, we are looking forward to the European editions and we hope that the Arabians in Europe will equal the quality of horses from the Middle East. We will probably see many of the giants who now compete in the Persian Gulf on European rings, fighting for medals!
