Qabala owners Al Shahania Stud happy to 'climb the ladder gently'

Many of the world’s most important innovations and inventions were a product of Plan B – with breakthroughs ranging from microwaves and pacemakers to Play-Doh and the humble Slinky.

The same can be said of Qipco 1,000 Guineas favourite Qabala, whose discovery by Al Shahania in November 2016 was born out of misfortune and the single-mindedness of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani, the uncle of the Emir of Qatar.

Bought for $300,000 at Fasig Tipton in America, the daughter of Scat Daddy emerged as a leading Classic contender after her victory in the Group 3 Nell Gwyn Stakes on just her second start at Newmarket.

"It’s unlike us but we bought two foals in 2016 and Qabala was one of them," says Bertrand Le Metayer, Al Shahania’s racing manager in Europe. "Sheikh Mohammed has always liked Scat Daddy and we sent mares to breed to him but were too late – his death was such a shame because he was a massive upgrader.

"It was frustrating but Sheikh Mohammed was determined to buy one and went there with Dean Lavy [Al Shahania’s stud manager in Qatar]. Qabala showed a nice fast action when she came to us for pre-training at our French base in Normandy. We sent her to Roger Varian and the rest is history."

Qabala was always held in high regard but it was not until her belated debut last September when she won by a head at Newmarket under Silvestre de Sousa that connections began to acknowledge her true potential.

Bertrand Le Metayer (right) with connections after Qabala's Nell Gwyn victoryCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

"She has the shape of a solid miler," says Le Metayer. "Roger has always thought a lot of her and was willing to be patient – he’s done a great job and she’s grown quite a lot over the winter.

"She was going to make her debut earlier last year but became unbalanced as she was growing so was given more time. Her first start at Newmarket was probably harder than the Nell Gwyn because she had to roll her sleeves up and do it on the outside going up the hill. That's when we woke up to what she could be."

Al Shahania is a dominant force in Arabian racing and has won the last four renewals of the $1 million HH The Emir's Sword, the final leg of the Doha triple crown, and bred more than 100 Group 1 winners globally.

In 2012 the operation began expanding into the thoroughbred industry and, despite being a relatively new entity, has seen its blue and white starred silks carried to victory in a number of Group 1s internationally.

It bodes well for Qabala that many of Al Shahania’s biggest successes have been with fillies, most recently with Teppal, who won last year’s Poule d'Essai des Pouliches for David Simcock.

Flotilla got the ball rolling in the French Classic in 2013, the same year Vorda landed the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket, and these early track stars are now flourishing in their new careers at stud.

"Vorda is being covered by Siyouni and Flotilla has had a lovely Dubawi filly foal and is in foal to American Pharoah," says Le Metayer. "Teppal was retired and is in foal to Dubawi."

These top track performers are an important part of Al Shahania’s select band of thoroughbred broodmares and could be central to their ambition of regularly competing at the highest level internationally.

Teppal winning the French GuineasCredit: Edward Whitaker

Qatar is similarly attempting to establish itself on the global stage and sport is integral to this process through sponsorship of major events such as Glorious Goodwood and the small matter of hosting the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

Al Shaqab was one of the country's first international flagbearers, rapidly expanding into Europe and winning back-to-back Arcs with Treve in 2013 and 2014, but such swift evolution does not always lead to solid foundations and the operation has found it difficult to build on that early success.

With 35 broodmares for 2020 and 41 thoroughbreds in training, Al Shahania is focussing on sustainable growth with an emphasis on the quality, rather than quantity of their stock.

"We let the horses do the talking and hope to climb the ladder gently," says Le Metayer. "Sheikh Mohammed is a breeder at heart. We are still a young operation and he loves the process of improving our thoroughbred stock – his aim is to breed Classic winners.

"We’ve made quick progress and in the last five years have upgraded the broodmare band tremendously, with the aim of having between 30 and 40 of the best blueblooded mares.

"The plan is to be selective and focus on having some jewels, making sure we have a bit of everything and use the very best stallions, such as Dubawi and Sea The Stars, so we can produce top-quality performers able to compete with the best over different distances.

"It’s exciting and we have a lot to find out in the next two years. We will find out a lot when we see what mares such as Flotilla and Vorda produce. We’ve only just had the first foals hit the track. Breeding is all about learning. You work out what works for the mares and try to improve."

Victory for Qabala in the 1,000 Guineas would represent a major breakthrough for Al Shahania, not only adding a first British Classic to their expanding roll of honour, but burnishing their reputation as a breeder of the highest quality.

Not bad for a Plan B.

More to come from Aspetar

Al Shahania are not restricted to racing fillies and could have a future star performer in the Roger Charlton-trained Aspetar, who was second in the Group 3 John Porter at Newbury this month.

The four-year-old, a Listed winner at Goodwood last year, has finished outside the top three on just one of his six starts and could step up in class in the Group 2 Grand Prix de Deauville in August.

Aspetar winning at GoodwoodCredit: Edward Whitaker

"He’s been brilliantly managed by Roger because he’s not an easy horse," says Le Metayer. "He's gone up 7lb for his run to a mark of 112 after Newbury and is going to be a fun horse.

"He’s very ground-dependent but Roger has campaigned him carefully. He’s an incredible, gutsy little horse and is one of our first generation of three-year-olds.

"We’ve got a lot of hope for his dam Bella Qatara, who is out of Alexandrova, and his half-brother Qarasu [a neck second on his sole start for Charlton in October] looks smart too."

The American dream

While the majority of Al Shahania’s thoroughbreds in training are evenly split between Britain and France, the operation has a great track record in the United States with leading lights Beach Patrol and Money Multiplier.

Beach Patrol after winning the Arlington MillionCredit: Four Footed Fotos

Beach Patrol won the 2017 Arlington Million and was beaten half a length by Talismanic in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar, while Money Multiplier won the Grade 2 Monmouth Stakes.

"We don’t have many runners in America but usually have a few nice turf horses out there to keep us racing all year round," says Le Metayer.

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