Ridden by Ryan Moore, the son of Coolmore stallion Australia, claimed the Qatari Group 2 contest at the prestigious H.H. The Amir Trophy meeting by half a length from Band Width with a further head back to Conflict in third place in the 12-runner 1 mile contest.

Russian Emperor 

The Coolmore-bred, former Aidan O’Brien inmate Russian Emperor landed day’s main race, the H.H. The Amir Trophy over a mile and a half for Hong Kong-based trainer Douglas Whyte and jockey Alberto Sanna. 

The 2021-22 Hong Kong Champion Stayer (2021/22) claimed the US$2.5 million race ahead of Godolphin’s Warren Point for Godolphin and the French-trained Bolthole, by half a length and another half a length respectively. 

It was a fifth career win for Russian Emperor, a son of Galileo, who previously won the  2022 Group 1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup and the 2022 Group 1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup in Hong Kong. 

The six-year-old Russian Emperor holds entries in both the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic and Group 1 Dubai Turf at Meydan on Dubai World Cup Night, 25 March 2023. 

The Aidan O’Brien-handled runners, Broome and Stone Age, finished fifth and twelfth respectively in a race that included runners from Ireland, France, Hong Kong, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

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Heffernan hit the seventh-placed Order Of Australia 11 times during the day’s feature race in France, six times more than the permitted limit.

Forty-seven-year-old Heffernan, who rode Russian Emperor in the Investec Derby at Epsom yesterday, already knew he would have to quarantine for 14 days on his return to Ireland.

The quarantine period was due to expire the weekend of the Juddmonte Irish Oaks (18^th July) at The Curragh, but the ban handed out today will then begin on 19^th July and keep the jockey out of action until 9^th August.

Speaking this evening, the Co. Kildare-born rider said:

“I got a fairly strong suspension, but there’s strict rules there. My horse was going to go over the rail, I had a white paint all around my boot, but those are the rules and that’s the way it was.”

Last weekend’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby winning rider, continued:

“He (Order Of Australia) was on the rail and going to hang in over the rail and I thought he was going through it, so I was using my stick for safety reasons. But the rules are what they are. I’m very disappointed and very sorry it happened, but there you go. Twenty two days is what they gave me, but there’s a lot worse things going on in the world. I’m really, really sorry that it probably looked bad, but I felt I had to do it at the time to stop the horse colliding with the rail.”

French racing authorities reduced the permitted number of whip strikes to five last year, with stewards having been directed to increase the punishment in line with the number of hits above the limit and importance of the race.

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