Dubai: Italian lady jockey Gaida Menato’s hopes of winning the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship received a significant boost after she was drawn to ride Sha’red, the highest-rated horse contesting the Abu Dhabi finale on November 9.
Menato qualified for the Dh200,000 contest by winning the California edition of the series in July aboard MS Dixie.
She will be joined by 10 other winners of the 14-race series which is being held under the banner of the HH Shaikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, and four other nominated riders.
Trained by the Etihad Stables-based Yousuf Al Beloushi, the 105-rated Sha’red won the Group 3 Al Ruwais in Abu Dhabi on February 2.
He is owned by Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.
Meanwhile, all the participating jockeys were paired with the runners in the 1,600m feature, which highlights Sunday’s opening day’s card at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club.
The official draw for both the World Championships of HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice Jockey (IFAHR) World Championship was held on Tuesday.
Other notable pairings include the Eric Lemartinel-trained Bigg N Rich who will be ridden by Belgium’s Anna van den Troost and the French trainer’s Raked, who has the services of Japan’s Chiaki Wanaga, the winner of 294 races.
The luck of the draw may have deserted rofessional jockeys Jeane Alves De Lemos of Brazil and Indian ace Rupa Narpat Singh who drew lesser fancied horses.
Brazilian De Lemos, with 450 career wins including a Group 1 race, will partner the Elise Jeanne-trained MH Areeb (rated 45) while the Poland leg winner Rupa Narpat Singh, the winner of 564 races in India, was drawn to ride the Ernst Oertel-trained Swyft (58).
“Today is a historic day for lady jockeys as for the first time we will have a field of 16 runners competing in the final of this great series in the name of Her Highness Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, Supreme President of the Family Development Foundation (FDF) and Head of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood,” said Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the Shaikh Mansoor Festival, IFAHR Chairman of Ladies Racing Committee and IFAHR Chairman of Apprentice Jockeys and Racing.
“At today’s draw I would like to thank all the owners and trainers who have had faith in these lady jockeys and the Apprentice jockeys and provided their horses in these two races,” she added.
“Thanks to the support of HH Shaikh Mansour, we will see around 135 flat race jockeys and around 40 endurance riders attending this week’s grand finale under the name of ‘One World, 6 Continents’ which extends until November 9.”
Tuesday’s draw was streamed live on the AD Sports Channel, the official website of the HH Shaikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival www.sheikhmansoorfestival.com, the App and Android “Arabian Races Festival”, officially launched the One World, 5 Continents extravaganza.
On Wednesday, 800 guests representing 56 countries around the six continents will converge in Abu Dhabi, the Capital of World Arabian Horse Racing.
On Thursday, all guests will attend camel races at Al Wathba Camel Race Track.
The HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak International Conference on Education and Training will be held on Friday and Saturday together with the Jockeys - High Performance Athletes session where legendary American jockey Chris McCarron figures on the podium.
