Last year’s winners back for Australia’s
HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival races

Strong fields for Melbourne races on Monday

Melbourne, Australia - It has been an exciting wait for the opening day of the 2015 racing season at Sportingbet Park, Sandown in Melbourne. The HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, which is being staged here by NARA Australia and The Melbourne Racing Club, will kick start action here on Monday, January 26 with two of its most important Purebred Arabian racing series.

And adding to the excitement is the fact that the winners of 2014  Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup as well as the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Championship race  in Australia will be back to defend their winning runs last year.

The quality field of seven runners in the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup includes the Christine Wilcox-trained Aqaba Brown Dirt Cowboy, winner of the 2014 leg under Katie Spalding. Katie will be back on Aqaba Brown Dirt Cowboy as the 10-year-old attempts to make it back-to-back victories in this most prestigious Purebred Arabian race here in Australia.

The winner of the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Championship race in 2014 was Conderosa Millenium Silver under British lady jockey Alyson Deniel. On Monday the Con Bouzianis – trained Conderosa Millenium Silver will be partnered by Hungarian lady jockey Edina Toth.

A repeat win by the 14-year-old Conderosa Millenium Silver will give the Hungarian jockey a place in the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Championship finale in Abu Dhabi on November 8, 2015. Among the eight others in the fray for the ladies race is another strong contender in Warrawee Naaziq. The 11-year-old has already been a winner in the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival and will be partnered by Irish lady jockey Nadine Forde.

“The HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Championship race will be the first of the two Festival races here in Australia and this is the second race in the 2015 series after Oman where Swedish lady jockey Josefin Landgren came up on top,” said Ms Lara Sawaya, Chairman of the International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA), Executive Director of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, Chairman of Ladies & Apprentice Racing Committees in the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR).

“The Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup will be run after the Ladies race and we are delighted that the defending champions of both the races will be back in action on Monday,” Ms Sawaya said.

“It is a privilege that the two races of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival are part of the Sportingbet Park racecourse’s opening race meet of 2015 and we are looking forward to some exciting action on the tracks,” she added.

The race will be streamed live on air and online via the web TV www.sheikhmansoorfestival.com.

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 The National Archives 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 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 2015, 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.

The following are the horses, jockeys and trainers in Monday’s HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival  races at Sportingbet Park, Sandown in Melbourne

The HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship (IFAHR), 1400m, Monday, January 26th, 2015, 12:00 pm local time

1. AUSDEN PRINCE MAHAL  (ZOE LEIGH VALVO from the US)
Trainer: Jennifer Randle (Preston Qld)
2. DELTA MOON CELTIC BOY (ANNA HESKETH from Grt.BRITAIN)
Trainer: Jennifer Randle (Preston QLD)
3. AQABA MAESTRO (CATHERINE BURRI from SWITZERLAND)
Trainer: Christine Willcox (Loomberah NSW)
4. COLLINDA PARK WINSTON (SANDRINE HAGENBACH from FRANCE)
Trainer: Anthony Mountney (Kembla Grange NSW)
5. CONDEROSA MILLENIUM SILVER (EDINA TOTH from HUNGARY)
Trainer: Con Bouzianis (Penrith NSW)
6. ANNABAR RO'HAHN (ANNELISE KING from AUST)
Trainer: Cassie Saunders (Fernvale Qld)
7. REID RIVER R-MANI (MICHELLE BLUMENAUER from GERMANY)
Trainer: Cassie Saunders(Fernvale QLD)
8. WARRAWEE NAAZIQ (NADINE FORDE from IRELAND)
Trainer: Kim Noble (Lancefield VIC)
9. KEISHA (ANNA PILROTH from SWEDEN)
Trainer: Jennifer Randle (Preston QLD)

The Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan AI Nahyan Cup 1300m,  Monday,  January 26th, 2015 at 12:40 pm Local time

1. AQABA BROWN DIRT COWBOY ( Katie Spalding)
Trainer: Christine Willcox (Loomberah.NSW)
2. EL-MASRI JADEED ( Dylan Dean)
Trainer: Kim Noble (Lancefield,VIC)
3. COLLINDA PARK KAZH (Kim Noble)
Trainer: Kim Noble (Lancefield,VIC)
4. CONDERROSA PEGASUS ( Daniel Edmonds)
Trainer: Con Bouzianis (Penrith NSW)
5. DJEHLBI ( Isabella The)
Trainer: Michelle Clements (Mt Marshall. QLD)
6. ALOHA THE DESPERADO (Annelise King)
Trainer: Anthony Mountney (Kembla Grange NSW)
7. HAZELDENE ESTINA (Jillian Colwell)
Trainer: Jennifer Randle (Preston QLD)

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