Sheikh Mohamed’s Moharram wins Prix Djelfor on perfect debut

Guillaume Guedj–Gay (left) guides Moharram to Prix Djelfor victory in Bordeaux, France, on Sunday. (Robert Polin)

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani’s homebred Moharram made a winning debut in the Prix Djelfor — Wathba Stallion Cup at Bordeaux-Le Bouscat on Sunday. The Thomas Fourcy-trained colt was last, but one for a long way. However, he came good in the straight and dominated the mile for three-year-old Arabian maidens by seven lengths with Guillaume Guedj–Gay in the saddle at the main expense of the Jean de Mieulle-trained and Olivier D’ Andigne-ridden Ihsan D’etiolles. The latter had the advantage of prior racecourse experience. Ibis De Litre, who is trained by the winning trainer Thomas Fourcy and was ridden by Jerome Cabre finished two lengths further in third. “We had got a fair amount of work into him,” said Fourcy. “He should have made his debut sooner, but he developed a cough. He had every right to make a bold showing on his debut.” Being a son of Assy and Amandine De Ghazal, Moharram hails from the same line as the high class Gazwan.