5-time Wathba Cup winner Gazel T takes on unbeaten Macallan

Gazel T (near to rails) and Paramour T

HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival races feature on Swedish National Day

Once again it is the Swedish National Day on Monday, June 6 and all roads in Stockholm will lead to the Gardet where the feature of the special race meeting will be the two top Purebred Arabian horse races staged under the umbrella of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival.

Adding to the excitement is the fact that the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup race, a Listed event, will see a mouthwatering clash between the unbeaten Macallan and Gazel T, winner of the Festival’s Wathba Stud Farm Cup earlier in the season for a record 5th successive time!

The 4-year-old gelding Macallan under Anna Pilroth has won all four of his starts which includes the 1200-metre Wathba Stud Farm Sprint Cup, a Group 3 race held on October 8 last year at the Jagersro course. While three of those wins were over 1200 metres, the win in the Ramonia Cup in Gotenburg last September was over 1600 metres.

The distance in Monday’s race is 1500 metres on grass but the biggest challenge to Macallan comes from the 8-year-old Gazel T to be accompanied by jockey Jacob Johansen. Despite his domination of the 1730-metre distance at the Jagersro Racecourse in the Group 3 Wathba Stud Farm Cup which he has won for five years in a row, Gazel T is yet to impress in the Sheikh Zayed Cup, coming third twice here to Athlete Del Sol in 2015 and 2014.

Tadhg O’Shea is on Kao Kat MHF and Fredrik Janetzky on Pamills Lipse and these two along with Pentagon under Manuel Santos and Daraahem under Fabienne de Geer are likely to also compete for a slice of the 320.000,00 SEK (Swedish Kronor) on offer.

The others in the fray are Mahany De Piboul (Carlos Lopez), Toutatix (Dayverson De Barros), Mad Makz (Fanny Olsson) and Bisht (Nathalie Mortensen).

LADIES WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Eight lady jockeys will be in the contest to book a berth for the November finale of the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship. The distance for this Stockholm leg of the Ladies Championship is 2750 metres with SEK 275,000 on offer.

Al Janoob, which ran in Rome in last week’s big race at Capannelli finishing second behind Ziyadd in the Sheikh Zayed Cup, is back in contention once again and will be under Ireland’s Nora Looby.

But the horse to watch will be Gazel T’s stable companion Paramour T under Spanish lady jockey Gloria Madero, who has a Group 1 win in her 151 career wins in over 500 races. Paramour chased Gazel T in the season opener and stands a good chance here though the consistent performing Niraan under Rebecca Danz of Germany and W Catchcash under Danielle Hodsdon of the US will be tough customers. Catch Cash beat Al Janoob in Denmark last year and Hodsdon has won the Colonial Cup Grade 1 Hurdle back home in her 140 wins.

Norway’s Madeleine Haugland on Jumeira Palm, Nanna Emilie Hansen of Denmark on Assiaf, Kim Hyesun of Korea on Oriental Myth and Italian Kristen Bezdekova on Suhaim complete the field.

Ms Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, Chairperson of Int'l Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA) and Chairperson of Ladies & Apprentice Racing Committees in the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR), said, “It has always been exciting for us when we come to Sweden and the Festival would first like to greet the Swedish people on their National Day.”

“Races here in the last few years have been watched by thousands and we expect another large audience tomorrow when the Purebred Arabian horses and the lady jockeys from various countries exhibit their skills,” she said.

“This is a very busy period for the Festival, last week we had a great WAHRC 2016 and race meeting in Rome and this week we are here,” Ms Sawaya said.

The HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival is sustained by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority and coordinated by Abu Dhabi Sports Council, with National Feed and Flour Production and Marketing Co. LLC as associate sponsors, IPIC as Strategic Partner, The  National Archives as the official partner and Emirates airline as the official carriers, in cooperation with Emirates Racing Authority, IFAHR, Emirates Arabian Horse Society, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare  and sponsored by Al Aweer Stables, Ayadii LLC, Global United Veterinary Services LLC, Bloom, Petromal, Rise General Trading Co. LLC, Hayatna, Wathba Stallions, Abu Dhabi Falconers Club, Emirates Falconers Club,  Mohamed Bin Zayed Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School, Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), Al Awani General Enterprises, Kabale, Omeir Travels, Dr Nader Saab Switzerland, Laboratories Fadia Karam Cosmetics, YAS Channel, Racing Post, Paris Turf,  Al Wathba Centre, the UAE's General Women's Union, The Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy, Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2016, Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Eastern Mangroves Suites-Abu Dhabi by Jannah, Anantara Eastern Mangroves Spa and Resort.

Source: HH SH Mansoor Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival / Satya Narayan