Qatar Prix Niel report and reaction: Cualificar motors home under Buick

Sent off a 7/2 chance for Sunday's Group 2 contest on the revamped Qatar Arc Trials day card, Andre Fabre's Lope De Vega colt was tackling 12 furlongs for the first time in public and needed every yard of the trip to edge ahead close home.

The Godolphin-owned Cualificar had finished second to Camille Pissarro in the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly and third to Alohi Alii in a Deauville Group 2 after winning his first three starts of the current campaign, but overhauled George Scott's game runner-up Bay City Roller to set up a likely tilt at the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe early next month.

Buick, who had to sit and suffer in behind horses before producing his mount with a late burst inside the final furlong, said on Sky Sports Racing: "I knew all the way throughout the race that I was going to have to try and find an out. In these races the horses are pretty closely matched.

"I didn't get any room down on the inside so I had to come back to come out. To finish the way he did and still win the race, that always takes a bit of doing. He's a horse who is improving, I was impressed with him when I rode him in the Prix du Jockey Club.

"(It was) his first time over a mile and a half and he was very happy going this distance. He handled it very well and handled the track and the trip very easily. I think soft ground won't bother him, he won't want it deep as he's a good-actioned horse and he does have that bit of acceleration towards the end of the race. Good ground suited him but if it came up a little bit easier that wouldn't be a problem for him."

Cualificar was cut to 14/1 from 66/1 by Paddy Power for the Arc, a race trainer Fabre has won a record eight times in the past, most recently with Waldgeist in 2019.

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