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

Poland named to stage HH Sheikha Fatma Bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup next year

The HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival named Poland as one of the countries to stage the HH Sheikha Fatma Bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup, the first time the country will play host to a race for lady jockeys.

Ms Lara Sawaya, Director of HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival made the announcement at a press conference yesterday at the Sluzewiec racecourse in Warsaw, Poland ahead of Sunday’s HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival’s Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Group 3) race.

“This is the second year in running that the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival is staging the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Group 3) race here and we are happy to announce the prestigious HH Sheikha Fatma Bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup in Poland next year. The exact venue for this first-ever race for lady jockeys in Poland will be announced here during Sunday’s Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Group 3) race,” said Ms Sawaya.

“Poland will join six other countries which will be staging HH Sheikha Fatma Bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup races for the first time ever and this is expected to be a huge boost for the women jockeys all around the world. We have already staged one HH Sheikha Fatma Bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup race in Duindigt, The Netherlands this year and this will be followed by another race in Abu Dhabi on November 6, 2011,” she said.

“The HH Sheikha Fatma Bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup will carry a prize purse of Euros 20,000 and will be the richest race in Poland for amateur lady jockeys who are allowed to take part in the Ladies Fegentri Cup races. The Poland race will be one of the eight races that are on the anvil for the year 2012 and reflects the tremendous support for women sport and women issues extended by Her Highness Sheikha Fatma Bint Mubarak,” Ms Sawaya said.

HE Mutaz Al-Faheem, Charge d’Affaires, UAE Embassy in Poland welcomed the move to stage the HH Sheikha Fatma Bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup in Poland next year.

“We are pleased to see more races come to Poland and wish to see this kind of co-operation growing in the future,” the UAE envoy said.

“We are also pleased with the huge media interest in the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival from both Poland and the UAE. We are glad to support this event and I thank HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs for initiating the Festival and its activities,” Al-Faheem said.

Feliks Klimczak, President of the Polish Horse Racing Club, who also addressed the press conference said, “We stage over 600 races here out of which about 200 races for Arabian horses. The HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival has been a huge support for breeders and owners of Arabian horses and has come at the right time. Today’s announcement of the HH Sheikha Fatma Bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup is a great addition and will lift the status of racing in Poland.”

“The Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Group 3) race gives our Polish breeders to test themselves against breeders from France and Russia and I thank HH Sheikh Mansoor for this opportunity,” Klimczak said.

Przemyslaw Stasz, Spokesperson of the Sluzewiec racecourse said, “Many people visited and enjoyed the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup race last year and this Sunday we are expecting a bigger turnout. This and the two Wathba Stud Farm Cup races are certain to help raise the level of Purebred Arabian racing to the next level.”

The HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival is organised by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) and co-ordinated by Abu Dhabi Sports Council in association with Emirates Arabian Horse Society with support from Invest AD, Areej Al Ameerat, La Sirene, the UAE’s General Women’s Union, Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2011, Wathba Stud Farm and Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club.