Dubai: The World Arabian Horse Racing Conference supported by the HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival concluded on a glittering note at the historic Guildhall in the City of London on Friday night.
Abdul Rahman Ganem Al Mutaiwee, UAE Ambassador to the United Kingdom, presented the Conference flag to Asim Mirza Al Rahma, the UAE Ambassador to the Republic of Poland to announce that the 2015 6th edition of the annual conference will be held in Warsaw, Poland.
Conference speakers, moderators, officials, Arabian horse racing breeders, UAE endurance riders, members of the media and envoys were felicitated at a dazzling ceremony that marked the end of the three-day conference.
Al Mutaiwee and Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of Festival and Chairman of Ladies Racing at IFAHR, thanked all the participants.
Juma Mubarak Al Junaibi, UAE Ambassador to Germany; Al Rahma, Saqr Nasser Ahmad Al Raisi, UAE Ambassador to Portugal, Abdul Aziz Nasser Al Shamsi, UAE Ambassador to Italy, Dr Hessa Abdullah Ahmad Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to Spain, Abdullah Hamdan Al Naqbi, UAE Ambassador to the Netherlands, Sulaiman Al Mazroui, UAE Ambassador to Belgium and Al Asri Saeed Al Dhaheri, UAE Ambassador to Morocco and Abdul Rahim Al Awadi from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were all felicitated and honoured for their support to the Festival.
Earlier Sawaya told the World Arabian Horse Racing Conference that UAE breeders will be rewarded with a percentage of the prize money earmarked for the Wathba Stud Farm Cup races held in the UAE from next season.
“We will allot an extra amount for this purpose and this will go to breeders whenever their horse wins,” she said.
IFAHR Chairman Sami Boenian also confirmed that the launch of an all-comprehensive database website would be finalised soon.
The need to help the breeders, woo youngsters to Purebred Arabian racing, make efforts to ease the transport of horses between nations were some of the other topics that the workshop decided to continue working on.
On Saturday the action moved to Newbury racecourse for the staging of the Festival’s HH Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Listed) and the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship races.
The former boasts a total prize fund of, £70,000 (Dh431,000) while the Ladies World Championship offers a prize fund of £25,000 making it the richest ever race for ladies to be held here in the UK.
Meanwhile, the CEI One star* 100km HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Endurance Cup will be held at King’s Forest in Tetford on Sunday.
The ride is open to Purebred Arabian horses and features a strong team of riders including lady riders from the UAE.
The HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival is organised by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority and coordinated by Abu Dhabi Sports Council in association with Emirates Racing Authority, IFAHR and Emirates Arabian Horse Society.
It is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare with Arabtec Holding PJSC as the Official Partner and Emirates airline as the official carriers and sponsored by Invest AD, Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), Al Rashid Investment, 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 2014, Dr Nader Saab Switzerland, Al Wathba Center, Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Eastern Mangroves Suites-Abu Dhabi by Jannah, Abu Dhabi Sports Channel and Racing Post.
