Abu Dhabi: Action continued in the HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival’s ‘One World, 6 Continents’ on the second day of the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Training and Education Conference while elsewhere the connections of the runners in the November 8 race meeting were gearing up for the big meeting on Sunday.
On Thursday, the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Training and Education Conference opened with Aref Alawani, Secretary General of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Dr Abdullah Rayess, Director General UAE National Archive, Sami Al Bouenain, Chairman of IFAHR, Essam Abdullah of Emirates Arabian in attendance.
The opening session of three-day HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Training and Education Conference focused on Jockey Training Worldwide and Prevention of Racing Accidents. Moderated by Liz Price, the participants were Richard Perham, jockey coach, British Racing School, Gary Waterston, jockey coach, South African Jockey Academy, Kai Schirmann, director, German Jockey School, Matthew Hyland, jockey coach, Racing Victoria and Remi Bellocq, executive director of North American Racing Academy.
Among the subjects discussed were: foundation training, training courses, exams, sharing international experiences to encourage the development of training with countries that do not currently have formal training and content of course curriculae before licensing
The second session on Thursday was on ‘Jockeys — High Performance Athletes — At The Top’, moderated by racing commentator Derek Thompson with Simon Milton, ‘Professionalism in Sport’, Jean Cruguet, retired Triple Crown winning jockey of Seattle Slew, Pat Buckley racing director of ADEC, Saeed Al Mazrouei (UAE Apprentice), Ahmad Ajtebi (UAE Professional Jockey) and Pierre Biancon, AFASEK (France).
The second session touched on topics like ‘How to become a successful jockey’, ‘How to maintain high performance’, Continuing professional development for jockeys and advice to beginners — which had the young aspiring jockeys full of questions for the panellists.
The opening day’s third session was a highly technical one dealing with controlled jockey diet, weight control, healing and the progress in the Research of Liverpool John Moores University.
Gary Capwell moderated this session with eminent participants that included Dr Georges Wilson,
Dr Grame Close, Dr Philip Pritchard, Dr James Morton, veteran jockey Franny Norton, Dr Jamal Hout, NAET Specialist and Dr Guillaume Sellier representing AFASEK, France.
“All the sessions on the opening day witnessed a series of important topics being discussed and the audience was educated on many key areas by the experts on the various panels. We are looking forward to two more days of intense deliberations in this conference,” said Ms Lara Sawaya, executive director of the HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, Chairperson of the International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA) and Chairperson of Ladies & Apprentice Racing Committees in the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR).
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, with National Feed and Flour Production and Marketing Co. LLC as associate sponsors, 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, Bloom, Petromal, Rise General Trading Co. LLC, Hayatna, 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 Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy, Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2015, Dr Nader Saab Switzerland, Al Wathba Centre, Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Eastern Mangroves Suites-Abu Dhabi by Jannah, Yas Channel, Omeir Travels, Racing Post and Laboratories Fadia Karam Cosmetics.
