Arabian horses debut at Monmouth Park
4 September 2017, Oceanport, New Jersey, USA ~ Two-time Darley Awarded Arabian Horse of the Year, Paddys Day took the third and final leg of the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup US Triple Jewel and wrapped up the bonus of $150,000 in the process for highest series points.
Owned by Quarter Moon Ranch LLC and trained by Scott Powell, Paddys Day had already won the Houston and Pleasanton legs of the Triple Jewel and was racing under favorite jockey Keiber Coa in Monday’s $50,000 Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup Diamond Jewel Grade 1.
Powell was strongly double-handed as Ivory Shores had just won the Saturday, 2 September Grade 1 Buzz Brauninger Arabian Distaff Handicap in Delaware, and returned to action two days later.
Ivory Shores under Kevin Mendez and Thess Is Awesome under Chris DeCarlo exchanged the early lead but when Coa brought Paddys Day into the contest he easily came to the front in the stretch.
Cheered home by the large crowd, the champion the bay colt opened a lead of more than five lengths over second–placed Quick and Rich under Carlos Hernandez. Thess Is Awesome finished third a further 10 lengths behind.
“The race set up perfectly for us,” said winning rider Keiber Coa. “They were going slower than I thought they were going to go. He’s a kind of horse where you have to get after him. You got to get into him to wake him up and tell him it’s time to go. He’s a really classy horse.”
Coa said that he will be accompanying Paddys Day for his trip to the UAE later this year.
The 6-year-old son of Burning Sand out of the Virgule Al Maury mare AK Loretta has now won 22 of his 33 career starts, extending his all-time earnings record for an American Arabian Horse to $472,786.
“That is a great way to win his third US Triple Jewel. This year he won all the three legs and showed what a champion he is. We are very happy with his form and hopefully he will do better in the UAE this time,” said winning owner/trainer Powell.
Lasix free racing
The HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival 4 September date will go down in the annals of US horse racing as a historic day on two fronts – Purebred Arabian horses made their debut at the Monmouth Park and more importantly they raced ‘lasix-free’ for the first time in a US race meeting.
The HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival had laid down that its races in the US will be ‘lasix-free’ and for the first time ever Purebred Arabian racing on Monday competing Arabians without any use of *Lasix,
HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship
When Butch Cassidy LZP became a late withdrawal in the race, Sweden’s Ulrika Holmquist lost her ride and was devastated. Then the news that Valenzuela Moncada did not make his ride gave Holmquist the chance on Kao Maloan SWA.
The 24-year-old veterinary student did not waste the opportunity, and came up with a blistering finish on the Ken Danyluk-trained 4-year-old Kaolino son to win the $20,000 HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship race and qualify for the final on
10 November 2017 in Abu Dhabi.
Germany’s Esther Weissmeier on Jimdandy Totherehessq led for most of the race and had mustered a good lead heading home when Holmquist on Kao Maloan SWA began a searing charge down the outside to collar the leader and win the 6-furlong contest in 1:19.11.
Weissmeier on the Lynn Ashby-trained Jimdandy Totherehessq finished second while Scott Powell’s Risky Red ran into third place under Puerto Rico’s Heriberto Fuentesen.
The Stockholm-based second-year veterinary student said, “I was devastated that my horse got scratched but when I got to know I was riding I was very happy that my trip was not going waste. This is such a great opportunity by the HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival for us Apprentice riders and it was also my first start in this series.”
“The trainer told me to keep him off the pace and he sure had a lot of pace in the final furlong. I have never been to the UAE and am looking forward to the November 10 final,” said Holmquist after her victory.
Ms. Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, Chairperson of the International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA) and Chairperson of Ladies & Apprentice Racing Committees in the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR) and General Manager of Wathba Stallions along with Ali Moosa Al Khameiri, Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone, ambassador of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival, and other UAE and US officials attended the prize distribution and gave away the trophies.
“We are very happy that today the first-ever race without Lasix has been run in the US and the Festival has been pushing for this. We are hoping that this will change this practice here in the US and ensure a ‘drug-free’ horse while racing, “ said Ms. Sawaya.
Sawaya announced 2018 Festival race changes saying: “From next year we will be doing away with the Triple Jewel and introducing new competitions to mark the 100th year of the birth anniversary of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Founder of the UAE and the architect of UAE’s promotion of Purebred Arabian horses and also mark ten years of HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival.”