Chelmsford City: The Shaikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival stops at Chelmsford City Racecourse in the United Kingdom on Saturday with all four of its races series to be run as part of the UAE Abu Dhabi Day.
The Festival will stage the Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Group 1), and the Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies and Shaikha Fatima Bint Apprentice World Championships (IFAHR) along with three supporting races under the Wathba Stallions banner. The six-race fixture is being staged as part of Chelmsford’s successful music night series and the race meeting will conclude with live music from UB40.
Declarations for the Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Gr1PA) include proven older horses such as Kalino, the winner of the 2015 Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown (Gr1 PA), which, with a prize fund of 1.2 million euros (Dh5.1 million), is the world’s richest Arabian horse race. Also lining up are fellow Group winners Al Mouwaffak, Aghsaan and Swedish raider Macallan, whilst Mith’haf Athbah and Lou Raynal have also been Group placed. Furry, Sha’Hir, Al Raha and Naishaan complete the field in this Group 1 contest with a £80,000 prize fund.
In the Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race, ten lady jockeys from around the globe line-up to win and qualify for the November finals in Abu Dhabi.
The runners and riders are Majid Bin Krayaan under Ireland’s Lisa O’Neill; Noble Athlete under UK’s Ellie Mackenzie; Callymay under Austria’s Manuela Slamanig; Kork Mhf under Norway’s Thea Hofossaeter; Vindetta under Germany’s Tamara Hofer; Conquer under Oman’s Fatma Al Manji; Farrah under Spain’s Beatriz Alonso; Madjanthat under Denmark’s Rikke Bay Torp; Zayin Indian Fuego under Poland’s Roksana Kulaga and Kayclaire under Bianca Willemstijn of The Netherlands.
Germany’s Tamara Hofer, who has ridden over 73 winners from 700 rides and Poland’s Kulaga with 7 winners from 96 races, are the two Professional jockeys in the line-up.
Gemma Cobb, ARO Racing Operations Executive, said: “ARO is extremely grateful for the continued support of the Shaikh Mansoor Festival and of its Executive Director, Lara Sawaya. I’m looking forward to seeing some very competitive Arabian racing at this track, as our meetings have always been very well received by the local racegoers and the meeting has been sold out for a number of weeks now. It is also an honour to facilitate the running of Chelmsford City’s first ever Group 1 race to be staged at the course.”
