Her Southern California career lasted all of two starts, but no one defeated her either time.

But before that part of Qaraaba's story was told, she did very well in Europe prior to heading across the pond.

She was bred for the stakes scene. A daughter of multiple Group I winner Shamardal and a granddaughter of Giant's Causeway, Qaraaba spent most of her career in England. She inherited her sire's penchant for consistency, winning several races and placing in others as she made the rounds at tracks like Doncaster, Newmarket, and Kempton Park.

A multiple handicap winner in Great Britain, Qaraaba made the move to North America in 2012. Now a part of the Simon Callaghan barn, she debuted at Hollywood Park that autumn. The public got wind of her before the race, for she went off at less than even money.

Squaring off against allowance optional claiming company on the turf, Qaraaba raced in last after a slow start. She was far back for a while, but she was ready to run in the stretch, roaring by everyone on the outside with Julien Leparoux aboard to win the one-mile contest.

That successful outing prepped Qaraaba for graded stakes company. Entered in the Grade III Robert J. Frankel Stakes at nine furlongs early in the Santa Anita winter/spring meet, Qaraaba was seen as a contender. Aside from her performance at Hollywood Park, she had class given her race record in Great Britain. The connections clearly saw something, sending her to graded company after just one race. And they of course knew what she could do given her tenure in Europe.

Those that backed Qaraaba were not disappointed. She spent much of the Frankel in last place, but the deficit was nowhere near what she faced the previous time. Not that far behind at the top of the stretch, Qaraaba again made her move on the outside. Peerless in that last part of the race, she beat everyone to become a Grade III winner. But the win represented the peak of her Southern California career, for she did not compete again.

But Qaraaba still has connections to the local circuit. She is the dam of more than one Southern California runner, and a couple of them have tasted stakes success like she did.

Californiagoldrush placed in the Grade I Del Mar Oaks in 2018 and won the Grade II Sands Point Stakes at Belmont Park that same year.

Harvest Moon captured Del Mar's Grade III Torrey Pines Stakes and Santa Anita's Grade II Zenyatta Stakes in 2020, and also owns a win at Los Alamitos. She also placed in the Grade II Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita in 2021.

Qaraaba has also produced Mr. Impossible, who is a race winner and has placed in some starts. Time will tell whether he becomes a stakes winner, but class does run in his family.

Overall, Qaraaba was a successful racehorse, given she was in the top three in more than half of her starts and won a Grade III contest. And now that some of her offspring are stakes winners at the circuit she was briefly acquainted with, it seems like she has gotten another chance to do well there along with the United States in general. And that might continue on well into the future.