Second successive win for Alibaba Del Sol on White Turf
9 February 2015, St Moritz, Switzerland ~ It was a Dutch double on the frozen lake at St. Moritz, Switzerland, for the Sunday 8 February HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival.
10,000 spectators followed the events of the first day of racing at White Turf 2015. Cap Sizun was the winner in the most important flat race; the first hurdles race for 21 years was won by Vicomte Alco. It was Dreamspeed and Franco Moro that prevailed in the Skikjöring. Wagering was part of the action with a total of 62,831 Swiss francs placed in bets.
/Photo Andy Mettler
Dutch trainer Karin van den Bos completed a 1-2 finish for Dutch owner Langoeld Waterland and took home the lion’s share of the prize money of 42,000 Swiss Francs.
Alibaba Del Sol under Daniel Porcu won the Festival’s Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Listed Cup for the second successive year, whileAthlete Del Sol under Andre Best finished second.
It ended a close finish with just a quarter of a length separating the two in the 1600-metre in this unique race on the ice and snow. Porcu on the 10-year-old chestnut Alibaba Del Sol had to cough up a fine for excessive use of the whip and due to this will also miss next week’s action on the White Turf.
The winners took 2:08 to complete the 1600-metre distance as Daraahem came third to push Nil Ashal to fourth place in the 9-horse field.
swiss-image.ch/Photo Andy Mettler
“Alibaba Del Sol is a terrific horse and even at ten he has not lost the appetite to fight and win races,” said the proud Dutch trainer Van den Bos, who has been a consistent performer in the Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival.
For Alibaba Del Sol, a multiple-winner of the Festival’s Wathba Stud Farm Cup race series, it is the perfect start to 2015. In 2014 Alibaba Del Sol won this race last year and after that also won another Festival race – the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race in Stockholm.
The Swiss leg of the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race will be held on February 22, the third and final race meeting on the White Turf for 2015.
Ms Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, Chairman of the International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA) and Chairman of Ladies & Apprentice Racing Committees (IFAHR) said, “This is a popular win by Alibaba Del Sol. Once again the crowds in St Moritz were fantastic and the Purebred Arabian horses showed their racing ability on the challenging ice and snow tracks on the frozen lake of St Moritz.”
The HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival is organized by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority and coordinated by Abu Dhabi Sports Council in association with Emirates Racing Authority, IFAHR and Emirates Arabian Horse Society, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare with The National Archives as the official partner and Emirates airline as the official carriers and sponsored by Invest AD, Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), Al Awani General Enterprises, Kabale, Al Wathba Centre, the UAE’s General Women’s Union, the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy, Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2015, Dr. Nader Saab Switzerland, Al Wathba Center, Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Eastern Mangroves Suites-Abu Dhabi by Jannah, Abu Dhabi Sports Channel and Racing Post.
~ end