Spain’s Gutierrez aims to repeat 2017 win

No 3 Alejandra Gutierrez on Kontrat De Ghazal last year

Spanish Apprentice jockey Alejandra Gutierrez, last year’s winner of the HH Sheikha Fatima Apprentice World Apprentice Championship race here in Tarbes, France will be looking to repeat that feat once again and qualify for this year’s final to be held in Abu Dhabi in November.

Gutierrez had won on Kontrat De Ghazal but not before she spent some anxious moments before the photo declared her the winner in one of the closest finishes.

In Sunday’s Prix Fleur D’Avril- HH Sheikha Fatima Apprentice World Apprentice Championship race here, Gutierrez will be riding Elmanara De Carrere and hope to make it to the final of this premier Apprentice World Championship series.

Another Apprentice, Alexandria Bihari from Hungary, was also a finalist last year after winning the HH Sheikha Fatima Apprentice World Apprentice Championship race in Rome. Bihari rides Dame D’Or in Sunday’s 2300-metre race which carries a prize fund of Euros 20,000 and is run under the banner of HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival.

Alexandria Bihari on way to winning the Apprentice race in Rome in 2017

Siya to be ridden by Poland’s Anna Gil, Dakare De Lardus by French Apprentice Marion Lanave, Djelilla under Sweden’s Allan Walace, Chabotte De Ghazal under Germany’s Nicole Sechi, Engun De Bozouls under Italian Riccardo Iocopini and Caracole De Bozouls under UK’s Gavin Ashton are the others who are in the fray.

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 carrier, in cooperation with Emirates Racing Authority, IFHRA, IFAHR, Emirates Arabian Horse Society, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abu Dhabi Youth Council, General Authority for Sports and sponsored by Ayadi LLC, Global United Veterinary Services LLC, Nissan Middleast Al Massood Automobiles, Nirvana Travels and Tourism LLC, Equicare Veterinary Services, Alawal Stud, Cavalos Equine Care & Supplies, SET Sustainable Environmental Technologies, Al Awani General Enterprises, Omeir Travels, Kabale, YAS Channel, Abu Dhabi Falconers Club, Emirates Falconers Club, Mohammed Bin Zayed Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School, 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 2018, Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club and Anantara Hotel.

Source: HH Sh Mansoor Festival / Satya Narayan
Photos: Morhaf Al Assaf