November 7, 2013, Abu Dhabi ~ At a press conference under the headline, “One World, 5 Continents” held at the Mangrove Hotel Jannah, the details were revealed of Sunday’s racing  (November 10) and Championships at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club. Top on the list will be the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship IFAHR, as 14 winning  female jockeys from around the globe line up for honors for the grand title of the most prestigious international women’s Arabian horse racing competition.

The six-race-card will include the final round of the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Prestige), as well as the second edition of the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak EARS Apprentice Jockey Race, where 11 young jockeys will go head to head astride Purebred Arabian horses.  

The event is held under the umbrella of the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival and will be preceded by the first-ever HH Sheikha Fatima EARS conference to be held over two days (Friday and Saturday, November 8,9) to handle vital issues associated with the future of horse racing.

Racing experts and three hundred participants from 29 countries have been invited by the Festival to tackle issues related to the future of staffing and training in the horse industry, continued professional development, technical support and future and inspiration.

The partners and sponsors of the festival have once again reiterated their commitment to throw their weight behind the vision of HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs to promote the Arabian horse and the culture and heritage of the UAE worldwide.

Lara Sawaya, director of the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival and chairman of Ladies Racing Committee in the International Federation  of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR) conveyed the greetings of the patron of the Festival HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the officials, guests, jockeys and attendants saying that they are all most welcomed to the capital of the world’s women racing Abu Dhabi.

Sawaya detailed prizes for Sunday’s races saying: “There’s plenty in store for all participants and members of the public in the final of the festival and everyone is a winner. We are here once again to send to the world one important message; the global vision of HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan.”

“The winners of the ladies championship and apprentice race will receive Rolex wrist piece each valued at $9000 over and above the prize-money. The top three finishers in the Ladies Mundial will receive Dh33.333 each, while the first three riders who cross the finish line in the apprentice race get Dh25.000 each,” she confirmed.

It was also noted by Sawaya  that a special song has been composed for the lady riders and will be performed by top UAE singer, Aryam and broadcast by radio stations in the countries of all participating jockeys daily for a week.

In addition she detailed that with each of the 15 races for the Wathba Stud Cup held in Abu Dhabi, each race would bear the name in association with one of the racecourses which host the Wathba Stud Cup races abroad beginning with England’s Newbury Racecourse. California and Texas racecourses will follow starting  from November 17. In addition the festival will be sponsor five endurance races around the world in the 2014/ 2015 season.

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 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 Welfare and Fegentri with Emirates airlines as the official carrier and sponsored by Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), Invest AD,  Arabtec Holding PJSC, Al Rashid Investment, Areej Al Ameerat, 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 2013, Dr. Nader Saab Switzerland, Wathba Stud Farm, Al Wathba Center, Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Eastern Mangroves Hotel and SPA and Eastern Mangroves Suites-Abu Dhabi by Jannah.

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