Nil Kamla wins Zayed Cup on St Moritz snow

For once the Del Sol pair of runners had to take a back seat as Nil Kamla made the most of the conditions to win the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival’s Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup race on the snow track of ST Moritz in Switzerland on Sunday, February 14.

The 1600-metre race (reduced to 800 metres) with a prize fund of nearly 40,000 Swiss Francs was  to be run on the frozen lake, amidst the snow-capped mountains of St Moritz a week earlier but due to the warm conditions the snow track was affected and postponed to February 14.

Further, following problems on the far side of the track, all the races on Sunday, 14th February had to be held on the 800m finishing straight. The drop in distance seemed to help the Swiss raider and Nil Kamla sprinted to victory.

Nil Kamla, trained by Franziska Aeschbacher and owned by her husband Urs Aeschbacher, was ridden to a stunning win by Raphael Lingg in a time of  44.90 seconds for the four-furlong race.

Trainer Karin van den Bos saddled Alibaba Del Sol under Daniele Porcu and and Athlete Del Sol under Alexander Pietsch and the two finished second and fifth respectively. In third was Nil Ashal under Olivier Placais.

The event being part of the White Turf extravaganza which spreads over three week-ends on 7th, 14th and 21st February and is an annual affair and next week the prestigious HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race will be run here again as part of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival.

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 with  and sponsored by 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
Photo: Swiss Image