Qemah (foaled 19 February 2013) is an Irish-bred, French-trained

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse and

broodmare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

. She showed considerable promise as a juvenile in 2015 when she won one minor race and finished third in the

Prix Marcel Boussac The Prix Marcel Boussac is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and it is s ...

. The following spring, she took the

Prix de la Grotte The Prix de la Grotte is a Group 3 flat horse race open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies in France. It is run over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile) at Longchamp i ...

and went on to record

Group 1 Group 1 may refer to: * Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal * Group 1 (motorsport), a regulation set of the FIA for series-production touring cars used in motorsport. * Group One Thoroughbred horse races, the leading e ...

victories in the

Coronation Stakes The Coronation Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 7 furlong and 213 yards (1,603 metres), and it is sche ...

and Prix Rothschild. The highlight of her four-year-old season was a win in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes.

Background

Qemah is a bay mare with a white

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

bred in Ireland by Ecurie Cadran. In August 2014, as a yearling, she was offered for sale at

Deauville Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...

and bought for €200,000 by the bloodstock agency Mandore International. She was subsequently passed into the ownership of Al Shaqab Racing and sent into training in France with

Jean-Claude Rouget Jean-Claude Rouget (born 1953 in Normandy) is a French Thoroughbred horse trainer and former jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The wor ...

. She was ridden in most of her races by Gregory Benoist. She was sired by Danehill Dancer, who won the Phoenix Stakes,

National Stakes The Vincent O'Brien National Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 me ...

and Greenham Stakes before becoming a very successful breeding stallion. His other progeny have included Choisir,

Mastercraftsman Mastercraftsman (19 February 2006 – 13 August 2021) was a Cartier Racing Award, Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. The four-time Group One-winning colt was trained by Aidan O'Brien and was ridden by Johnny Murtagh in all of his wins. He was out ...

and Dancing Rain. Qemah's dam Kartica showed some racing ability, winning one minor race and finishing third in the

Group 3 Group 3 may refer to: * Group 3 element, chemical element classification * Group 3 (motorsport), FIA classification of cars used in auto racing and rallying * Group 3, the third tier of races in worldwide Thoroughbred horse racing * Group 3 image ...

Prix Fille de l'Air. Kartica's dam Cayman Sunset won the Dahlia Stakes and as a descendant of the broodmare Adjournment, was distantly related to Master Derby.

Racing career

2015: two-year-old season

Qemah made her debut in a contest for previously unraced fillies over 1500 metres at Deauville Racecourse on 7 August in which she started 2/1 favourite and finished second, six and a half lengths behind the winner Antonoe. Four weeks later, ridden by

Ioritz Mendizabal Ioritz Mendizabal (born 5 May 1974 in Oiartzun) is a Spanish Basque people, Basque flat racing jockey, who is long-term based in France. He won his first race in 1990 and joined the stable of Jean-Claude Rouget the following year. Mendizabal is ...

, she started favourite for the Prix de la Sorbonne over 1700 metres at

Longchamp Racecourse The Longchamp Racecourse (, ) is a 57 hectare horse-racing facility located on the Route des Tribunes at the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is used for flat racing and is noted for ...

and recorded her first success as she won "easily" by three lengths from Doha Dream. On 4 October, the filly was moved up sharply in class to contest the

over 1600 metres at Longchamp and finished strongly to take third place behind Ballydoyle and Turret Rocks.

2016: three-year-old season

In the Group 3 Prix de la Grotte over 1600 metres at

Chantilly Racecourse Chantilly Racecourse (In French: "Hippodrome de Chantilly") is a Thoroughbred grass, turf race track, racecourse for flat racing in Chantilly, Oise, France, about north of the centre of the city of Paris. Chantilly Racecourse is located in the ...

on 20 April, Qemah started the 4/1 third choice in the betting behind Trixia (winner of the Prix des Réservoirs) and Antonoe. After racing in mid-division she accelerated into the lead 200 metres out and won "comfortably" by two and a half lengths from Kenriya. Qemah started favourite in the

Poule d'Essai des Pouliches The Poule d'Essai des Pouliches is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile) ...

at Deauville on 15 May but after stumbling early in the race she came home third behind La Cressonniere and Nathra. On 17 June the filly was sent to England for the Coronation Stakes over one mile at

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, about 25 miles west of London. Ascot is used for thoroughbred horse racing, and it hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 races and three Gra ...

and started at odds of 6/1 in a thirteen-runner field. Jet Setting started favourite, while the other runners included

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

, Nathra, Nemoralia ( Michael Seely Memorial Stakes), Besharah ( Lowther Stakes), Fireglow ( Montrose Stakes) and Now Or Later ( Derrinstown Stud 1,000 Guineas Trial). After being restrained by Benoist in the early stages, she began to make rapid progress on the outside in the straight, took the lead just inside the final

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to any of 660 foot (unit), feet, 220 yards, 40 rod (unit), rods, 10 chain (unit), chains, or a ...

, and won by one and three quarter lengths and a short head from Nemoralia and Alice Springs. Qemah was matched against older fillies and mares in the Prix Rothschild over 1600 metres at Deauville on 31 July and started second favourite behind Alice Springs who had won the

Falmouth Stakes The Falmouth Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile ( ...

since her defeat at Ascot. The other eight runners included Esoterique, Amazing Maria and Lumiere. Qemah settled in mid-division, went to the front 300 metres from the finish and kept on well to win by one and a quarter lengths from Volta. On 10 September the filly attempted to win her third consecutive Group 1 race when she was sent to Ireland for the Matron Stakes at

Leopardstown Racecourse Leopardstown Racecourse is a horse-racing course in Leopardstown, approximately south of Dublin city centre, in Ireland. Like the majority of Irish courses, it hosts both National Hunt and Flat racing. Built by Captain George Quin and modell ...

but was beaten into third behind Alice Springs and Persuasive. In the 2016 World's Best Racehorse Rankings Qemah was given a rating of 116, making her the 158th best racehorse in the world.

2017: four-year-old season

Qemah began her second season in the Chartwell Fillies' Stakes at

Lingfield Park Lingfield Park Racecourse (commonly referred to as Lingfield) is a horse racing course at Lingfield in Surrey, United Kingdom. It is owned by the ARC Racing and Leisure Group, formerly Arena Leisure Plc. Lingfield is best known as a winter ...

in May in which she started favourite but finished second to Mix and Mingle after being hampered two furlongs out. On 21 June, she returned to Royal Ascot for the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge and was made the 5/2 favourite ahead of thirteen opponents including Usherette (winner of the race in 2016), Mix and Mingle, Turret Rocks, Smart Call (from South Africa) and Greta G (from Argentina). Racing up the stands-side of the course (the left-hand side from the jockeys' viewpoint) she took the lead approaching the final furlong and was "driven out" by Benoist to win by three quarters of a length from the 40/1 outsider Aljazzi with Usherette a neck away of third. On 30 July Qemah started favourite as she attempted to repeat her 2016 success in the Prix Rothschild, but finished fourth in a "blanket finish", beaten half a length by the winner Roly Poly. At Leopardstown in September she came home fifth in a strongly-contested edition of the Matron Stakes behind

Hydrangea ''Hydrangea'' ( or ) is a genus of more than 70 species of Flowering plant, flowering plants native plant, native to Asia and the Americas. Hydrangea is also used as the common name for the genus; some (particularly ''Hydrangea macrophylla, H. m ...

Winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

, Persuasive and Wuheida, with Roly Poly,

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

and Intricately finishing behind. On her final racecourse appearance she finished sixth of the thirteen runners behind Roly Poly in the Sun Chariot Stakes at

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...

on 7 October.

Pedigree

*Qemah was

inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders an ...

4 × 4 to Northern Dancer, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the fourth generation of her pedigree.

References

{{Reflist 2013 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in France Thoroughbred family 1-l