Abu Dhabi: The cream of the Arabian horse racing world began to arrive in Abu Dhabi last night, ahead of the first World Arabian Racing Conference.
The World Arabian Horse Racing Conference will be held from Thursday to Saturday alongside the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2010 in the UAE capital.
It has been organised by the Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival, under the patronage of Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, in association with the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage.
The main thrust of the first session will be to find answers to the following: How Arabian race horse breeding has developed; what the future holds for Arabian racing; and what separates success from failure in keeping the sport alive and progressing.
Dianne Waldron (US), along with Jean Biraben (France), Longin Blachut (Poland), Michelle Morgan (USA) and Dr Ilker Altindas (Turkey) are to be key panel members.
Waldron is one of the biggest names in US Arabian racing and her Rosebrook Farm is among the most famous Arabian race horses.
Shaikh Mansour's racing manager Mussallam Al Ameri said: "The first session which deals with breeding of Arabian horses is a vital subject. Here in the UAE, we have a very strong local breeding programme and the fact that we have reserved many races for UAE-bred horses has been very encouraging to owners of small stables and individual owners."
Lara Sawaya, director of the Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival, said: "We are eagerly awaiting the conference and many connections ... in the UAE are very keen to participate."
