H.H. Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival

Official Website / CALENDAR 2012 / Photos by Morhaf

Raihan wins Sheikh Zayed Cup at Dundight

Den Hague ~ Raihan was ridden to an exciting victory by David Bouland to win the HH Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup at the Duindigt racecourse in the Netherlands on Sunday (July 15).

The Group 3 race was run over a distance of 1900 metres for a prize money of Euro 25,000 and the winning horse is owned by Qatar’s Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khalifa Al Thani. Lillij Ann finished second ahead of another favorite Ameretto.

Charles Nora and Ijad

The races sponsored by the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival also featured the Festival’s Wathba Stud Farm Cup VI where Ijad, owned by HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan was brilliantly ridden by Charles Nora to register his maiden win. Ijad was followed by Shrek OA and Shakia Dormala in second and third places respectively.

Prizes were distributed by Eisa Al Hammadi, third secretary at the UAE Embassy in den Hague along Ms Lara Sawaya, director of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Racing Festival and Head of IFAHR ladies racing, Abdullah Al Muhairi , manager (PR) Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, Abdulrahim Al Hashimi of the UAE’s General Women’s Union and W.J Ruiter, president Dutch Arabian Racing Corporation (DARC).

Eisa Al Hammadi said: “We thank Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs for staging these races in The Netherlands. It is encouraging to see high quality Arabian race horses are competing here and many people are showing interest in knowing more about the UAE as a result of the success of the Festival and it is a very good development.”

Ms Lara Sawaya said the number of races in the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak World Ladies Championship has been increased to 12 from 10 with San Francisco hosting its debut race in 2013. The race series will return to Duindigt race course in the Netherlands where it made its debut in 2011. Sawaya also said, the details of France’s first ever HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak World Ladies Championship race to be staged on September 1 in Craon will be announced at a press conference in Paris on August 30.

Abdulla Al Muhairi said: “The success of the Festival’s activities would not have succeeded or realized any development or continuity without the personal and tangible support of HH Sheikh Mansoor.’

‘We have already seen the success Sheikh Zayed Cup held earlier this year and this race will be a complement to that and The Netherlands has strong base of Arabian horse. The announcement of the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak EARS (European Association of Racing Schools) Conference on Education and Training in Abu Dhabi in 2013 is a good addition to the Festival’s activities.

Sunday’s race was the seventh race of the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup series and the next stop is of Warsaw, Poland, on August 26 followed by Craon, France on September 1.

The H.H. Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival is organized to promote purebred Arabians in different parts of the world with the sponsors being by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority and co-ordinated by Abu Dhabi Sports Council in association with Emirates Racing Authority, IFAHR and Emirates Arabian Horse Society, supported by General Authority for Youth and Sports and Fegentri with Emirates airlines as the official carrier and sponsored by Invest AD, Al Rashid Investment, Areej Al Ameerat, Mauzan, Al Awani General Enterprises, Kabale, the UAE’s General Women’s Union, the Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy, Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2012, Wathba Stud Farm and Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club.

Saada Saab Antypas
press coordinator