Dubai: The first in a series of race meetings aimed at promoting Purebred Arabian racing will take place at Rome’s Capannelle Racecourse on Sunday with the staging of the 10th Dubai International Arabian Race Day.
The event, which is a result of the partnership launched in 2005 between Capannelle Racecourse and Jebel Ali Racecourse, celebrates its tenth year of collaboration.
It is held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance.
Twelve months ago, Rome’s historic racecourse hosted two Arabian races for the first time on the same card that features the prestigious Premio Presidente della Repubblica (G1) and this year’s event hopes to build on the success of that meeting.
Announcing Shadwell’s sponsorship of the race meeting, Mirza Al Sayegh, director of Shaikh Hamdan’s office, said that the promotion of Arabian racing was the top priority on Shaikh Hamdan’s list.
He also pointed out that Shaikh Hamdan was very pleased at the response by the Capannelle racecourse who were staging Arabian races for the second year in a row.
Al Sayegh also announced that the Dubai Day series will continue in Germany, Britain, Latin America, and Australia.
Main races on the card feature the €41,800 Premio Emirates Airlines stakes over 1400m and the €41,800 Premio Tadolina-Memorial P. Galli-UAE Stakes over a mile for fillies and mares four years and over.
Al Sayegh also said: “We are honoured to be here for the tenth year. We are happy to be here at Capannelle and to reiterate our collaboration with the racecourse.
“Among other things, were are here today to present a preview of the new international logo that will stand as mark of the relationship that exists between Shadwell and Capannelle and the United Arab Emirates.
“We also extended out thanks to the trainers, jockeys, breeders and all the “unknown soldiers” who, however, help to give the best image of our sport in the world. And thank you very much for Capannelle,” Al Sayegh added.
“We also hold special days in England and Germany in August, and in Australia. Probably in January 2015 we will have one or two race days in South America. We are in the first phase of confirming this and we are pushing hard to make it happen and to make Arabian racing better known in the world.
“We would like to stress that a number of the Jockey Clubs in the world are beginning to appreciate the results. This is particularly the case in Poland, Germany, France and Italy.
Sharif Al Halawani, general manager of Jebel Ali Racecourse said: “We are happy to be here. In the past ten years the exchange of ideas that we have always had was very helpful. We will continue to do so increasingly.”
