Sheikh Abdullah’s Qaiser lands a hat-trick

Olivier Peslier (left) rides Qaiser to Prix Achille Fould victory in Bordeaux-Le Bouscat in France on Saturday. (Robert Polin)

Owned by His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani, Qaiser continued his winning streak on Saturday when winning the Prix Achille Fould, a Class 1 race over 2,400m for three-year-olds at Bordeaux-Le Bouscat in France. With Olivier Peslier in the saddle, Qaiser went quickly to the lead and settled in second position throughout. At the 1,000m mark, he moved closer to the leader Merveillo and was still travelling very comfortably. Once in the home straight, Qaiser showed a nice turn of foot and kept challenging the leader until he took the lead in the final stages to win by half a length. Rainband managed to snatch the runner-up place for trainer Henri-Alex Pantall and jockey Soufiane Saadi while the long-time leader Merveillo finished a further length and a quarter behind him in third for trainer C. Ferland and jockey Maxime Guyon. This was the third win in a row for this progressive son of Charm Spirit, who will now be aimed at a Listed race.