Sha’hir wins Wathba Cup in Pau, France

Pau, France - Sha’hir, under Mikael Forest, kick-started the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival’s Wathba Stud Farm Cup series with a win at the Pau racecourse in France on Tuesday, February 7, 2017.

The 1950-metre race is the first of the international leg of the Wathba Stud Farm Cup, a race series of the Festival that aims at the grass-roots level to help develop Purebred Arabian horse racing around the globe.

Sha’hir, owned by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani, has won the Festival’s Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Group 3) race in Ostend, Belgium in August last year.

Sha’hir in fact led a 1-2 finish for trainer Francois Rohaut as the 6-year-old Amer son finished ahead of Barnamaj ridden by Francois-Xavier Bertras, both horses training under the same handler. In third place was Qatari raider Al Nashmi under Gianni Siaffa.

Commenting on the race, Ms. Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, Chairperson of the Int’l Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA) and Chairperson of Ladies & Apprentice Racing Committee said, “It was a small but quality field of runners that took part in the first race of the Wathba Stud farm Cup series for the year outside the UAE.”

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