Draws for HH Sheikha Fatima World Championship races
held in Abu Dhabi

Luck favoured Italian lady jockey Giada Menato as she was drawn to partner the highest-rated horse in the Yousuf Al Bloushi-trained Sha’red as the 16 horses and riders were paired in an open draw for the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival’s HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship final race in Abu Dhabi on November 9.

Sha’red, a 4-year-old colt owned by HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs is rated 105, one more than the Eric Lemartinel-trained Bigg N Rich which will be in the hands of Belgium’s Anna van den Troost.

Strong contenders and professional jockeys Jeane Alves De Lemos of Brazil and Indian ace Rupa Narpat Singh were left to partner lesser fancied horses in the mile’s turf contest which will has a prize fund of Dh 200,000 on offer and will bring the curtain down on one of the most keenly-fought ladies championship.

Brazil’s De Lemos with 450 career wins including a Group 1 race winner will partner Elise Jeanne-trained MH Areeb (rated 45) while the Poland leg winner Rupa  Narpat Singh with 564 career wins from 3000 races was drawn to ride the Ernst Oertel-trained Swyft (58).

Two other Oertel-trained runners Wycked and Burj Khalifa will be ridden by Ireland’s Evanna McCutcheon and Spain’s Lucia Gelabert Bautista respectively.

Eric Lemartinel-trained Raked will be steered by Japan’s Chiaki Wanaga with 294 wins from 3323 races while the experienced Dutch jockey Jadey Pietrasiewicz with 102 wins will be on Ernst Oertel-trained Molahen El Alhan.

The Majid Al Jahouri-trained Awam will be partnered by French jockey Pauline Prod’Homme with 61 career wins while the Helal Al Alawi-trained Kanjani will be ridden by Hungary’s Alexandra Bihari with 23 career wins.

Norwegian Veronika Aske will ride the Yousuf Al Bloushi-trained Haajeb American Sandee Martin with 506 career wins will be racing on Jaber Bittar-trained Barq Al Reef.

Korean Keum Joo Lee on the Majid Al Jahouri-trained Laamma, Great Britain’s Alyson Deniel on the Lemartinel-trained Mandragore Al Maury, the Jaber Bittar-trained Ragdan under Australian Natalie Lye and yet another Lemartinel-trained runner -Naseem Al Reef- will be the mount of Moroccan Marmoul Bouchra to complete the 16 horse field.

The draw for the newly-introduced HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship (IFAHR) series was also held and the following are the horses drawn by the Apprentice jockeys: Majid Al Jahouri’s Ghalib (Kam Chon Wong), Ibn Battuta Monlau (Omdutha Sola), Kareem W’rsan (Regan Bayliss), Manisha (Yahya Al Hamdani), Takaamul (Yuji Nakai), Theoretically (Gianlucca Sanna), Forgehill Cezanne (Emma Sayer), Laahaq (Rayan Munger), Najm Aleemarat (Gianni Siaffa), AF Al Almaa (Ahmed Al Subose), Dig Dagon (Jaime Bautista), Merzal (Natalie Turner), Munzade (Vahdettin Kaplan) and Venom (Tommaso Scardino).

The two draws at the Eastern Mangroves Anantara Ballroom on Tuesday was held in the presence of  HE Arif Al Awani, Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Sheikh Hamdan bin Suroor Al Sharqi from Invest AD, Mansour Al Mansouri from Emirates Falconers Club, Ahmed Al Fahim representing TDIC and Fatma Al Nuaimi, Mariam Al Memari and Shamma Al Kutbi from the General Women's Union with Ms Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival and Chairman of Ladies Racing Committee in the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR) and Chairman of Apprentice Jockeys & Racing in IFAHR. The draw was conducted by Ms Lara and world-renowned TV presenter Derek Thompson under the supervision of Emirates Racing Officials.

“Today is a historic day for lady jockeys as for the first time we will have a field of 16 runners competing in the final of this great series in the name of the Mother of the UAE and the World, Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, Supreme President of the Family Development Foundation (FDF) and Head of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood,” Ms Sawaya said.

“At today’s draw I would like to thank all the owners and trainers who have had faith in these lady jockeys and the Apprentice jockeys and provided their horses in these two races,” she added.

“Thanks to the support of  HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan, we will see around 135 flat race jockeys and around 40 endurance riders attending this week’s grand finale under the name of ‘One World, 6 Continents’ which extends until November 9,” she added.

The HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival is organised by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority and coordinated by Abu Dhabi Sports Council in association with Emirates Racing Authority, IFAHR and Emirates Arabian Horse Society, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare with Arabtec Holding PJSC as the Official Partner and Emirates airline as the official carriers and sponsored by Invest AD, Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC),  Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), Al Rashid Investment, Al  Awani General Enterprises, Kabale, Al Wathba Centre, the UAE's General Women's Union, the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy, Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2014, Dr. Nader Saab Switzerland, Al Wathba Center, Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Eastern Mangroves Suites-Abu Dhabi by Jannah, Abu Dhabi Sports Channel and Racing Post.

Source: HH SH Mansoor Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival / Satya Narayan
Photo: Morhaf Al Assaf