Macallan and Hurra top in Stockholm races

HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival unveils HH Sheikha Latifa ponies race

Anna Pilroth (#3) and Macallan

Stockholm, Sweden - June 7

Macallan, one of the equine stars of Sweden, showed his class with a fantastic win in front of a record crowd that had converged at the Gardet national park to mark Sweden’s National Day as well as lap up the action in a couple of  Purebred Arabian races.

In the last few years the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival’s races have been one of the highlights on the June 6 Swedish National Day race meeting and on Monday it was a record crowd of nearly 55,000 that had thronged the Gardet, a city district in central Stockholm which is part of the world’s first national city park.

Macallan, a 6-year-old grey son of Dahess out of the top Swedish mare Queen Anne (Riyal) had finished fourth to Toutatix in last year’s Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup. Toutatix and Mad Makz-third in last year’s race- were also part of the line-up in Monday’s Euros 35,000 race contested over a distance of 1500 metres.

Macallan, one of the top Purebred Arabians in Sweden over the shorter distances came up with a great finish under Anna Pilroth whose father Bodil Blomqvist is both the trainer as well as a co-owner. Macallan and Pilroth have had success in the Festival while winning the Wathba Stud Farm Cup (Group 3) before and on Monday stepped on to the big stage winning the Sheikh Zayed Cup and deny owner-trainer Maria Hagman-Eriksson of a second consecutive success in the Swedish National Day meeting.

Hagman-Eriksson’s Toutatix, the winner last year, finished fourth but the Swedish trainer’s other runner Jaldi Karo under Dayverson de Barros fought bravely before losing out to Macallan. A close third was Athlete Del Sol under Carlos Lopez.

The winner completed the 1500-metre distance in 1:42.1 and it was an 8th career win for Macallan.

In the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race Germany’s Stefanie Hofer rode Hurra home to win the Euros 30,000 race run over a distance of 2750 metres.

Stefanie Hofer and Hurra

Hurra, a 7-year-old mare, had last won a race in 2014 and that was the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship race in Duindigt, The Netherlands. Prior to that in the same year Hurra also won the Festival’s Wathba Stud Farm Cup and on Monday carried Hofer to the finals of the Ladies World Championship.

Monday’s race had attracted seven lady jockeys and all of them were professionals. Hofer, the 30-year-old German with the most experience- 413 wins from 3792 starts- added another to her winner’s list as she steered the mare Hurra to her first win in more than two years.  What A Wonder under Denmark’s Sara Slot finished second while Japanese pro Nanako Fujita followed in third place.

The UAE Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden HE Sultan Al Kitoub, Dennis Madsen, Head of Racing at the Swedish Horseracing Authority and 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) gave away the trophies.

Commenting on the record crowd, Dennis Madsen, Head of Racing at the Swedish Horseracing Authority, said “55,000 people is a new attendance record. It’s a unique event and it is great to see so many people come to enjoy the races. It is so easily accessible, and I think that is a big part of the success.”

HE Al Kitoub added, “The HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival races have added to the National Day meeting and this year the crowd has been much bigger. We thank HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Mother of the UAE for staging these races here in Stockholm.”

HH Sheikha Latifa Bint Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Ponies Cup unveiled

“The Festival will hold a new race – HH Sheikha Latifa Bint Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Ponies Cup – to encourage young riders in the age group of 8 yrs to 12 yrs and this race will be part of the ‘One World, Six Continents- Abu Dhabi the Capital of the World’ race meeting on November 10, 2017,” said Ms. Lara Sawaya.

“We will have eight young jockeys drawn from all parts of the world, representing the six continents, in the race. This HH Sheikha Latifa Bint Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Ponies Cup will be an annual affair,” 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, 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, Ayadi LLC, Global United Veterinary Services LLC, 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, 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 2017, 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