Beyond The Sword: Growing HH The Amir Sword Festival

Ravagnani On Qatar's Golden Jubilee

"Naturally the focal point of the season" is how Ricardo Ravagnani, handicapper and racecourse planner for the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC), describes the HH The Amir Sword Festival, whose marquee race supplied the defining moment of the 2025–2026 season. "There was tremendous anticipation surrounding the clash between what were widely regarded as the two best Purebred Arabian racehorses in the world at the time, Al Ghadeer and HM Alchahine," the handicapper recalls. "In a memorable finish, however, it was the outstanding 5YO Lippo de Carrere who defeated them both, announcing himself as one of the new stars of international Arabian racing," he says of the US$2,500,000 feature that anchors the festival’s four-day card. Lippo de Carrere is trained by Alban de Mieulle, one of Qatar's most successful trainers, whose Al Rayyan-based stable has produced some of the country's biggest Arabian and Thoroughbred winners. That pedigree of Purebred Arabian success has so far been built predominantly on turf, with dirt racing now emerging as the next frontier for growth.

That upset capped a golden jubilee season in which the festival was expanded to four days for the first time, up from three in the previous edition, even as it competed directly with the Saudi Cup meeting for international attention. "This year's edition faced a unique challenge, being staged on the same weekend as the Saudi Cup meeting," the racecourse planner says, and yet QREC still attracted "a high-quality international field across both the Thoroughbred and Purebred Arabian programmes." On the Thoroughbred side, Deep Monster made an impression too. "The Japanese-trained Deep Monster produced a top-class performance under an inspired ride from Tom Marquand," Ravagnani says, describing the 2025–2026 renewal of the HH The Amir Trophy that achieved a Race Rating comfortably above the benchmark generally associated with an international Group One race.

Growing The Sword's Global Footprint

Ravagnani arrived in Qatar after representing Brazil, and then South America, on international ratings panels, a career built up over more than a decade before the newly arrived official ever set foot in Al Rayyan. Before joining QREC, the Brazilian lawyer-turned-racing-official served as Superintendent of Brazil's Association of Breeders and Owners of Racehorses (ABCPCC) and was Brazil's official handicapper, submitting national ratings to the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA). The OSAF Handicappers Committee chief since 2022, the first Brazilian to hold that position, also represented Brazil, then South America, at the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings Committee in Hong Kong.

That background, the handicapper says, shaped his reading of the role. "What drew me to Qatar was the opportunity to be part of a racing jurisdiction with real ambition, strong investment and a clear international outlook," he says, adding that Qatar's "balanced horse population and dual focus on Purebred Arabians and Thoroughbreds" set it apart within the international racing landscape. "QREC has built something very significant," Ravagnani says. "The scale of the programme, the investment in both Purebred Arabian and Thoroughbred racing and the quality of the HH The Amir Sword Festival demonstrate Qatar's commitment to excellence."

The HH The Amir Sword sits alongside the Qatar World Cup for Purebred Arabian Horses in Paris and the Qatar International Stakes at Goodwood atop the Purebred Arabian international calendar, and growing that standing further is now the priority.
"The next step is to continue strengthening the festival as a complete international event," the racecourse planner says. That means attracting the best Arabian horses, Ravagnani explains, but also ensuring that supporting races carry "the right conditions, spacing and prize money to encourage international participation." Sustaining relationships "with France, the UK, the GCC and other major Arabian racing jurisdictions" is equally important, he adds, framing the ambition in blunt terms: "The festival must remain a target, not simply an option."

That outward-looking approach is rooted in how the OSAF ratings veteran views the sport's global ratings system more broadly. "The Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings process is a reminder that racing is global," he says. "Horses move between jurisdictions, and ratings must allow meaningful comparison between performances in different countries." Drawing on the OSAF veteran's years representing Brazil and then South America at that table, he adds, "I believe Qatar is increasingly relevant in both Arabian and Thoroughbred racing. In Purebred Arabian racing, Qatar is already one of the central global players." What matters most, in the handicapper's assessment, is repetition rather than a single standout renewal: "The key is consistency. One strong race matters, but repeated strong renewals are what build international recognition."

Building Purebred Arabian Dirt Racing

"One area where I believe there is room for further development is the international profile of Purebred Arabian sand racing," Ravagnani says. "Qatar has established itself as one of the world's leading jurisdictions for Purebred Arabians, particularly on turf," the racecourse planner notes. It is on the Purebred Arabian side, however, that the racecourse manager identifies the clearest room for growth. "Considering that much of the GCC racing calendar for Arabians is conducted on sand, there may be an opportunity to strengthen that aspect of the programme through the introduction of higher-level sand races for Purebred Arabians," he says. The four-day HH Amir Sword Festival already points in that direction. "The programme is also strengthened using different surfaces, with races staged on both turf and sand, allowing horses with different profiles and aptitudes to find suitable targets," Ravagnani adds.

Two Tracks Built To Work Together

That expansion sits on top of an already demanding operation. QREC races roughly three times a week for much of a season that runs from October to April, spread across 70 meetings between two tracks. "With that intensity, the use of two racecourses is essential," says the handicapper. Al Rayyan remains the principal stage, the handicapper explains, "especially for the most important race days and the major turf programme," while Al Uqda supports a professional turf-management rotation of "seeding, recovery and rest periods during the season."

Al Uqda's role goes beyond simply protecting the main track, though. "It houses a significant number of horses and provides an excellent environment for the early development of young horses, especially colts and fillies beginning their racing careers," Ravagnani says, adding that transport between the two venues is "fast and straightforward" and that both surfaces are "maintained to a very high standard." The clearest difference between them is one of distance rather than quality: Al Uqda does not currently stage a traditional mile (1600 metres), where Al Rayyan offers a broader spread of trips, a gap Ravagnani says is set to close. "I understand there are already plans to extend the Al Uqda track, which will further expand its programming possibilities and enhance the flexibility of Qatar's racing calendar," he says.

That two-track system also has to answer to two distinct racing populations at once, split roughly 60 per cent Thoroughbred to 40 per cent Purebred Arabian, both of which, the handicapper says, "require meaningful opportunities throughout the season." A calendar built solely around handicaps would not serve that balance, he explains, which is why maiden, novice and graduation races "play such an important role, providing a structured pathway from the beginning of a horse's career through to the Derby Day in December" and, ultimately, into festival company itself.

Local Trainers Making Their Mark

Growth in the international spotlight, however, is only part of the picture. "Finally, I would highlight the consistency and progression of several locally trained horses throughout the season," Ravagnani says. "That is equally important because the success of a racing jurisdiction is measured not only by its flagship festival, but also by the quality, competitiveness and continuous development of its weekly racing programme." The clearest example was Dark Trooper, also trained by Alban de Mieulle, whose victory in a feature race in Abu Dhabi, he says, "reflected the strength of Qatar's training ranks and underlined the ability of QREC's racing programme to produce horses capable of competing successfully at the highest regional level."

That growing depth also feeds into the festival's broader design. "It offers meaningful opportunities not only for international horses and connections in both the Thoroughbred and Purebred Arabian divisions, but also for the local racing population," the handicapper says. Sustaining that balance is not automatic, however. "The challenge going forward is to preserve that broad opportunity while continuing to encourage the best local horses to test themselves against international competition when the conditions are right." Growing the Sword's global footprint, strengthening the dirt programme and giving Qatar's own trainers – such as Alban de Mieulle – room to progress are, on this account, three parts of a single ambition for the seasons ahead. It is one Ravagnani hopes Qatar will deliver heading into 2026–2027.