HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival-supported race-meeting at Sandown Park, UK

HH Sheikha Fatima Ladies race attracts strong field

Ten lady riders including three professionals will be part of the line-up for the UK stage of the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship (IFAHR) series, to be run as part of race meeting sponsored by the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival at the Sandown Park racecourse on Friday, August 19, 2016.

While the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies race will be the featured Purebred Arabian race on Friday, the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival’s Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Group 1) race will be the highlight on Saturday, August 20.

The one mile (1600 metres) contest for lady jockeys with a prize fund of £ 22,000 is this year’s 13th race of the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship.

Opening the day’s action, the race has attracted great support from UK trainers and their connections and it promises to be a very competitive handicap, as all of the runners are very closely matched on ratings.

Following a win in Ostend for fellow Britain, Catherine Walton on Monday, UK representative Anna Wallace is hoping for a similar result.  A former ARO Ladies Champion and also a breeder of Arabian racehorses, Anna has drawn recent winner Synergy, who broke her maiden in another HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival-sponsored race at Hereford two weeks ago.

The three professional jockeys in the fray are Laura Cheshire from Australia on Noble Athlete, Nanako Fujita of Japan on Ultimate Force and South Korean Yuna Na on Elyassaat.

The other runners and lady jockeys in the line-up are: Hoboub Athbah under Rikke Bay Torp of Denmark; Unity Belle under Thea Hofossaeter of Norway; Kermit The Frog under Jane Foley of Ireland; Koline under Monique Luebcke of Germany; Majid Bin Krayaan under Cornelia Fraisl of Poland and Callymay under Fatima Al Manji of Oman, a former winner in the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race series.

Ms Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, Chairperson of the International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA), Chairperson of Ladies & Apprentice Racing Committees in the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR) said: “This is a very busy week. After Monday’s HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race in Belgium we are still in the country for the Festival-supported Endurance rides. Friday and Saturday will see the Festival’s two big race events for Purebred Arabians being worked off.”

“The race meeting in Sandown Park will be a great meeting point for the racing officials here and the fans, with most of the UAE’s big sponsors of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival expected to attend,” she said.

“On Friday after the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race, the following races for Thoroughbreds will be held: the Abu Dhabi Sports Council Nursery race over 5f. 6yds; the UAE National Archive Handicap over 5f. 6yds; the TCA Abu Dhabi/British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes over 7f. 16yds; the National Feed & Flour Production Handicap over 1m. 14yds and the Global United Veterinary Services Handicap over 1m. 2f. 7yds,” Ms Sawaya added. 

ARO Racing Manager Amanda Smith commented: “August is a very exciting month for the HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival in the UK and we are delighted to host this important series for Lady riders at Sandown, which has been so well supported by our owners and trainers. On Saturday we also have the HH Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Group1 PA). Both races are part of two days of Thoroughbred racing supported by the HH Sheikh Mansoor 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  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
Photo: Morhaf Al Assaf