Abu Dhabi enhances status as world’s capital of Arabian racing
13 September 2014, Abu Dhabi ~ With two hundred and twenty amateur and professional lady jockeys from 56 countries around the globe and 800 guests from the international Arabian racing industry coming to Abu Dhabi, the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival celebrates its sixth anniversary at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club on November 9, 2014 under the slogan of One World, 5 Continents.
“The Grand Finale of the world’s richest ladies Arabian horse race, the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship (IFAHR), sees a field of 16 runners lining up for honours, as represented by the 13 winners of the 13 rounds of the competition plus three riders to be nominated by the organisers,” according to Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival and Chairman of Ladies Racing Committee in International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR).
Sawaya said that full details of the championship will be unveiled in a news conference to be held in Paris during the annual congress of the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR), one day before the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe on October 3.
Norwegian rider, Victoria Allers (corrected), winner of the sixth round of the championship 2013 in Toulouse, will skip the finale due to pregnancy, and a replacement will ride in the finale representing Toulouse.
The Bonus
A bonus of Euro 40,000 will be distributed among the jockey clubs of the top five girls on the basis of accumulated points, and the top five professional jockeys will divide a bonus of Euro 30,000 and the same amount to be divided among the top five amateur lady jockeys, according to Sawaya.
Originally there were five scheduled races of the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship (IFAHR) series, with two already run in 2014. The third leg of the series in Germany and the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Gr-2) were cancelled and a replacement date is forthcoming. The fourth round will be held in France early in October and the venue of the fifth race is to be confirmed. The finals of both Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup and the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Apprentice Championship (IFAHR) will be held in Abu Dhabi on 9 November.
In the days before the racing Championships, a new International forum called the International racing school association under IFAHR. will join representatives from jockey training schools on five continents who will discuss training and advancing conditions for jockeys.
“The set up of the new International Racing Schools Association which will be based in Abu Dhabi as well as the Liverpool John Moores University research study on the jockeys diet will top the agenda alongside other important issues,” Sawaya noted.
USA Triple Jewel
“We are delighted to see the Los Alamitos racecourse reopened for Arabian races after five years of suspension and the beautiful sprinters venue hosts the Diamond round of the American Triple Jewel of the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup series,” Sawaya re-iterated.
The press conference was attended by Aref Al Awani, secretary general of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Jan Zdrawski, representing the organizers of Warsaw 2015 World Arabian Horse Racing Conference, and Bahraini legislator and Gulf ladies advocate, Luluwa Al Awadhi.
The HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival is organised 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 Arabtec Holding PJSC 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 Rashid Investment, 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 2014, 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.