Newbury, England: Sylvine Al Maury, the joint top-rated Arabian mare of 2015, heads a strong list of entries for this weekend’s Dubai International Arabian Races (DIAR) at Newbury Racecourse in the UK.
DIAR promotes Purebred Arabian racing worldwide from the grass-roots to the highest level, with the flagship event organised under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance.
Thanks to Shaikh Hamdan’s passion and enthusiasm for the Arabian racehorse, the meeting has gone from strength to strength since its inception over 30 years ago.
Looking to the future and the promotion of the sport, the DIAR committee has boosted the prize fund for the three Group 1 Purebred Arabian contests by £20,000 (Dh96,740) for 2016. In addition, a travel allowance has been granted to encourage greater participation from overseas runners.
The DIAR committee has also added a series of preparatory races to the DIAR calendar, which now include races in Italy, France, Holland and Sweden, bringing the entire 2016 DIAR programme to 24 races, including 10 at Group or Listed level.
A star attraction at Saturday’s marquee meeting is Sylvine Al Maury, who is raced by the Royal Cavalry of Oman and trained by Madame Bernard.
Sylvine Al Maury is entered in the Dubai Duty Free Hatta International Stakes, one of three high-quality Group 1 contests that embellish Saturday’s card.
Sylvine Al Maury rounded off an excellent 2015 campaign, which included four Group 3 successes, with a win in the Qatar Total Arabian Trophy des Juments (Group 1) at Longchamp.
Another eye-catching entry is the Royal Cavalry of Oman’s Al Mouhannad who is bidding for a record fourth consecutive win in the Jebel Ali Racecourse Za’abeel International Stakes (Group 1).
The Arabian Racing Organisation (ARO) announced an exciting list of possible runners for Saturday’s five international contests following the first entry stage on Tuesday.
Other international highlights amongst the 85 entries include Gazwan trained by former UAE-based trainer Julian Smart who now trains for Shaikh Mohammad Bin Khalifa Al Thani. Gazwan is looking to complete back-to-back wins in the Shadwell Dubai International Stakes (Group 1).
He may face Al Mouwaffak, trained by Thomas Fourcy for Al Shaqab, the world’s second top-rated Purebred Arabian of 2015.
Four of the 14 overseas entries for the Emirates Equestrian Federation International Stakes (Group 2) are from Alban de Mieulle, who trains for Shaikh Abdullah Bin Khalifa Al Thani.
They include Yazeed, the first foal of Al Dahma, who he trained to win numerous Group 1 races including the Shadwell Dubai International in 2009.
ARO Racing Manager Amanda Smith commented: “Thanks to the continued support of HH Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the DIAR committee, we are once again looking forward to a truly international raceday at Newbury.”
More than half of the early closing entries are from overseas, including seven individual Group 1 winners, and Smith added: “In particular we are delighted to welcome entries from Italy, who only recently joined the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR). Urge Di Gallura won the first ever Listed PA contest to be run in Italy (sponsored by DIAR earlier this year) and is now eligible for a bonus, should he win on 24 July.
“Supplementary entries for the international races and the handicaps confined to UK runners all close on Wednesday, July 13.”
