16 October 2017, Duindigt, The Netherlands ~ Loid Bekaert, the 16-year-old Apprentice jockey from Belgium, already booked for a berth in the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship final after winning in Berlin in July, scored a win in the Festival’s Wathba Stallions Cup at Duindigt on Sunday, 15 October 2017.
One of the eight riders in the Festival’s Wathba Stallions Cup held at The Netherlands course on Sunday, Bekaert was riding a horse owned by Yas Horse Racing Management belonging to HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Karin van den Bos, one of the top Dutch trainers, booked the young Bekaert to ride the promising filly Herrmin and the Belgian stormed home ahead of Calitri D.A under W. Van Der Donk and Suman D.A under Leonie Vethaak.
Herrmin, a three-year-old chestnut filly by Munjiz, the champion stallion of the HH Sheikh Mansoor’s Wathba Stallions, was back in The Netherlands after a brave 6th place finish in the Group 1 Qatar Arabian Trophy for Fillies. Herrmin had won her maiden start here in Holland and is now two wins in three starts.
“DARC is proud and happy to see a top racehorse by Munjiz out of the great Cherifa mare-line in training in Holland with Karin van den Bos. We congratulate HH Sheikh Mansoor on this success and thank him for all his support to the Dutch Arabian racing,” said Margreet de Ruiter, Chairperson of Dutch Arabian Racing Committee, (DARC).
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 carriers, in cooperation with Emirates Racing Authority, IFAHR, Emirates Arabian Horse Society, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare and sponsored by Ayadi LLC, Global United Veterinary Services LLC, Wathba Stallions, Abu Dhabi Falconers Club, Emirates Falconers Club, Mohamed Bin Zayed Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School, Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), Al Awani General Enterprises, Kabale, Omeir Travels, Laboratories Fadia Karam Cosmetics, YAS Channel, 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 2017, Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Eastern Mangroves Suites-Abu Dhabi by Jannah, Anantara Eastern Mangroves Spa and Resort.
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