Horseracing, described as the sport of kings, has enthralled and frustrated millions for generations. Its origins can be traced back to 700BC and is interwoven with humankind’s relationship with horses, and the rise of great civilisations. On any day, hundreds of thousands watch human and horse paired in a blur of skill, sod and speed at countless venues around the world. But some races are as much a social occasion as a race against the stopwatch.
Serving more than 160 destinations around the world from their Doha hub, Hamad International Airport, Qatar Airways’ crew get to go lots of places, often. They share a few essential equestrian events:
- Qatar International Derby: The race and its associated social events are quickly securing a place in the sporting and social calendar or the Gulf state and the region. The beauty and speed of the Arabian horses is legendary, and here you’ll see the world’s best and fastest.
o Trivia: Arabian horses have only 23 vertebrae, one less than similar breeds. Nobody seems sure why that’s so, but they’re admired the world over for their speed, stamina, intelligence and gentle nature.
- Epsom Derby: The UK’s Jockey Club asserts that no other race has had as much of an impact on the sport as the Derby. The first race on the area was recorded in 1661, and the diarist Sammuel Pepys mentioned it in 1663. It first ran as the Derby in 1780 and has done so annually at the same instantly recognisable Sussex venue since, apart being moved to Newmarket for safety reasons during the First and Second World Wars.
o Trivia: The 1913 Epsom Derby was a tragic one: suffragette Emily Davison jumped in front of King George V’s horse and was fatally injured, dying a few days later. It was a seen a turning-point in the campaign for universal suffrage.
- Melbourne Cup: It’s run over 3 200m for horses three years and older and was first held in 1861. So important is the event to the economy of the region that it’s designated a public holiday within metropolitan Melbourne and surrounding areas of Victoria. The requirement that female racegoers wear hats has been said to singlehandedly sustain Melbourne’s milliners.
o Trivia: It’s billed as “The race that stops a nation” but a wag quipped that it stops two, because it’s as popular in New Zealand as it is in Australia.
- Kentucky Derby: An annual extravaganza for nearly 150 years, it’s been called the most exciting two minutes in sports. It’s been won by two 15-year-old jockeys – Alonzo “Lonnie” Clayton and James “Soup” Perkins, as well as by 54-year-old Bill Shoemaker. The race is also called “the run for the roses” because the winning steed and rider are given a rose garland: more than 400 roses sewn into a blanket. The is event famed for the amount of food and drink consumed, and is as much a gastronomic experience as a sporting one.
o Trivia: A number of movies have centred on the Kentucky Derby, including Secretariat, Seabiscuit, National Velvet, Phar Lap, and Racing Stripes. The latter was in fact filmed in the Midlands rural area of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
