Amsterdam: The organisers of the first-ever World Arabian Horse Racing Conference to be held in Abu Dhabi from September 23-25 met on Monday in Amsterdam to finalise details of the event to be held on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2010 (ADIHEX).
The Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Flat Racing Festival in association with Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (Adach), International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR) and Emirates Arabian Horse Society (EAHS) are involved in the three-day event which is expected to open a new chapter in the promotion of Arabian horse racing
IFAHR Chairman Sami Jasem Al Bunain told members of the UAE, French and Dutch media that the initial response to the initiative mooted by Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Presidential Affairs, was very well received by the international Arabian racing fraternity.
Different panels
"We have drawn a list of personalities and expect 20 experts drawn from a variety of fields to attend the event. These officials will constitute four different panels with the focus on cultural and historical aspects, breeding, racing and training of Arabian racehorses and future of Arabian racing," the IFAHR chief said.
"If the people whose names we have on our list join up, we will have the most condensed, collective competence concerning Arabian racing that has ever been in the same room," said Mats Genberg, IFAHR Secretary.
Essam Abdullah, Director General of Emirates Arabian Horse Society (EAHS) said the EAHS was closely involved in the conference. "We will of course focus on the breeding aspect and its related subjects and we have much to offer. The conference will be an ideal stage to exchange expertise with others" Abdullah said.
IFAHR Vice-Chairman Mohammad Eisa Al Adhab added, "The UAE leaders have always supported Arabian horse racing and this conference initiated by Shaikh Mansour will help in collecting a lot of ideas on promoting Arabian horse racing and also help in finding solutions. At least all those who attend will have their fingers on the pulse of Arabian racing"
Lara Sawaya, Director of Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Flat Racing Festival, said that one of the sponsors, Invest AD, is supporting a move to create the first ever free-to-download application connected with Purebred Arabian racing.
"This will be an I-pad and I-phone application and with over three million I-pads already sold, will be free to down load and use. It will be unveiled during the conference and Shaikh Mansour is likely to ‘touch-start' the endeavour," she said.