Abu Dhabi The three races under the umbrella of the HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival being run here at the Duindigt racecourse near The Hague in The Netherlands on Sunday, June 28 assumes great importance.
While the Group 3 Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup is also the second leg of the European Triple Crown, the lady jockeys intensify their chase for a berth in the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship finale in Abu Dhabi on November 8, 2015.
The two premier races of the Festival along with the Wathba Stud Farm Cup here on Sunday are being held under the directions of Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.
Reigning Shaikh Zayed Cup European Triple Crown champion Ameretto gets a chance to score full points with a win as Al Mouwaffak, winner of the first leg on April 17 in Toulouse Cup is not part of the starting line-up here. But Ameretto under Manuel Manueddu faces stiff competition from Athlete Del Sol which will be ridden by Dutch star and reigning HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Champion Jadey Pietrasiewicz.
Other star contenders include Lahoob under Tadhg O’Shea, the Beverly Deutron-trained winner of the Sheikh Zayed Cup in Lingfield Park, UK earlier in the year, Phraseur Kossack –the winner of the HH Sheikha Fatima Ladies race in St Moritz in 2014 and Karar- a Wathba Stud farm Cup winner last year among others.
Apart from a slice of the euros 35,000 (Dh143,747) on offer for Sunday’s 1900-metre Group 3 Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup, the 12-strong field will also be chasing the euros 50,000 bonus, the prize for emerging European Triple Crown. The third leg of the Triple Crown will be held in Sluzewiec racecourse in Poland on August 23.
The euros 20,000 HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship (IFAHR) race is expected to be a strong contest with reigning World Ladies Champion Pietrasiewicz on Nobas D.A, Indian ace Rupa Singh on Raya and Bachair Qarbadiya under Spanish star Lucia Bautista. Rupa and Baustista had finished 5th and 11th respectively behind Pietrasiewicz in last year’s HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship final on November 9. Local star Pietrasiewicz also gets the credit for being the only jockey to feature in three HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival races in a single race-meeting when she gets aboard Lightning Bolt in the Wathba Stud Farm Cup race.
Abdullah Hamdan Al Naqbi, UAE Ambassador to The Netherlands, had earlier in the week conducted the draw for the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race.
“Sunday’s race-card here in Duindigt has attracted some of the best Purebred Arabians currently racing in Europe and is part of the meeting which also stages the popular International Trot race – the Great Prize of the Low Lands,” said Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, Chairman of the International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA), Chairman of Ladies & Apprentice Racing Committees in the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR).
“Apart from the Triple Crown contest, an exciting race is on the cards in the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race for after this Duindigt race, there are only two more chances to qualify for the final. It is a quality field with some of the best lady jockeys involved here and the fans are going to enjoy it,” she added.
“The Dutch Arabian Racing Committee (DARC) is honoured the stage the second leg of the Festival’s Triple Crown. We thank Sheikh Mansour and the Festival for their great support for Arabian racing in Holland,” said DARC chief Wieger Joost de Ruiter.
The HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival is sustained by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority and coordinated by Abu Dhabi Sports Council in cooperation with Emirates Racing Authority, IFAHR, Emirates Arabian Horse Society, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare with The National Archives as the official partner and Emirates airline as the official carriers and sponsored by Invest AD, National Feed and Flour Production and Marketing Co. LLC, Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), Al Awani General Enterprises, Kabale, Al Wathba Centre, the UAE’s General Women’s Union, the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy, Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2015, Dr. Nader Saab Switzerland, Al Wathba Center, Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Eastern Mangroves Suites-Abu Dhabi by Jannah, Yas Channel, Omeir Travels, Racing Post and Laboratoires Fadia Karam Cosmetics.
