Abu Dhabi: The HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival stops in Sacramento, California, on Sunday for the third leg of the 2015 HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship.
Recent winner Sand Victor, the mount of Irish Apprentice Rob Fitzpatrick, and One Hot Chick, who will be partnered by Omani Saeed Al Yahyahee, look to have genuine claims in the 1,200-metre race.
Less than a fortnight ago, Sand On Fire won the second leg of the Ladies’ World Championship in Pleasanton. One Hot Chick finished second and My Vaz Is Hot third.
A total of ten horses will face the starter in Sunday’s race, which carries a purse of $25,000 [Dh91,828].
Ayers, with American apprentice Jonathan Roman in the saddle, and Twice Rich, who will have the services of Korean Song Jae-chul, also look useful and can stake a claim together with Frenchman Pierre Bazire’s RB Cantata.
Other runners include So Big Is Better (Jackie Beriman, Australia), Aimee Oakley PW (Katy Morrison, Canada) Fastandfurious (Rowan Scott, UK) and Es Mi Cielo (Lauralea Glazer).
Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the Shaikh Mansour Festival, said: “After this third leg, the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship will be held at seven more venues and the winners of all ten races will then battle it out for the world championship title on November 8 in Abu Dhabi.
“The next racs will be held in Belgium, United Kingdom, Poland, Tatarstan [Russia], the Netherlands, France and Brazil.
“This series is very important to help improve the skill levels of jockeys, who play a pivotal part in the horse racing world.”
