Strongest field for Zayed Bin Sultan Cup race
Three winners from last year in today's contest
Abu Dhabi: The Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival's Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup race series starts its European leg with one of the strongest field for today's Group 2 contest in Toulouse, France.
Three winners in last year's series start in today's 2,000 metre contest with Josco Du Cayrou, a Group 1 winner last year, adding a touch of class to the 8-horse field. Trainer Jean-Francois Bernard, who won this race last year with Nayef Al Khalidiah, is double-handed with two strong contenders. Bernard saddles Josco Du Cayrou for Oman's Royal Cavalry and Ghalib for Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.
The four-year-old Josco Du Cayrou won the Al Rayyan Cup (Group 1) in Deauville last August and will be starting off as the one to beat. Ghalib, winner of the Shaikh Zayed Cup (Group 2) in Craon last September, is a four-year-old too who will relish his step up in class and both the Bernard runners have an advantage of 4kg over their elder rivals.
Sartejano, last year's star from owner-trainer Diane Dorenburg's yard, won both in Berlin and in Poland and will be looking to make another winning start in the series. Sartejano emerged as the 2011 European champion of the Festival and won an added bonus of ¤30,000 (Dh144,431) last year.
Poulain Kossack under lady jockey Jadey Pietrasiewicz made history by winning the Shaikh Zayed Cup in Duindigt last year and will be up there in the final frame. Cambrydg, third to Raqiyah in the UAE President's Cup (Group 1) last year and also a winner of a Group 3 race along with Forgehill Cosaque, Nil Ishan Ibn Al Sakbe and Phraseur Kossack complete the 8-horse field.
Abdullah Al Qubaisi from the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority expressed his happiness over the quality of runners in the Toulouse leg of the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup series in a press release.
Exciting affair
"To see previous winners like Sartejano, Ghalib, Poulain Kossack joined by some good contenders makes this race a very exciting affair. The quality of the entries reflects the success of the race," Al Qubaisi said.
Lara Sawaya, director of the Shaikh Mansour Festival and Head of IFAHR Ladies Racing said: "After the success this year's series of races had achieved in Oman, Australia and the US, we now make our debut in Europe. Toulouse has been a permanent venue for us since we launched the Festival and we are delighted to be back here."
