Cindy Klinkenberg
Photo by Sharon Meyers

12 January 2016, Scottsdale, Arizona ~ On 2 January, Horsereporter published the Health and Welfare of Arabian Racing Link: <http://wp.me/p26iCL-JVy>, a look into the future of Arabian Racing around the world. Since then, Australia’s National Arabian Racehorse Association (NARA) has given us a positive update for the future of Arabian racing in Australia.

Australia is forging ahead with the Heritage Arabian Racing Club (HARC) series. There are currently fifteen HARC races scheduled for Victoria and NSW this year. We are excited to be holding two of these races during the prestigious East Coast Arabian Championship Show and another two during the highlight of the show season, the Australian Arabian Championships. It is hoped that this will showcase racing to a whole new sector of the Arabian industry. The HARC Open Sprint held during the National Arabian Stud Show last November was a great success and introduced the show fraternity to Arabian racing.

Early in 2016 the season opener saw the hotly contested HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Championship held at Caulfield, Victoria. Cindy Klinkenberg of the Netherlands saluted aboard Australia’s top racehorse, the Kim Noble owned and trained Warrawee Naaziq. Two more HARC races were held at Merton, Victoria, in February before racing moved to Morphettville, South Australia, for the running of the Dubai International Arabian Racing Shadwell Arabian Stallions Plate and the Shadwell UAE Plate. This was a wonderful family day with the Rainbow Painted Horses Schools Competition being a highlight. Seminars held in Tasmania and South Australia attracted good numbers and it hoped that this will produce more trainers and horses for the track.

The NARA team have been hard at work providing a solid race calendar for participants and while the prize money is modest, it is regular and we hope to see many new participants this year. For those who are more interested in breeding, the NARA Futurity is another way to participate in racing. The Futurity is a great encouragement for breeders of purebred Arabians and the current numbers of unborn foal nominations bode well for future fields on the racetrack.

We are thrilled to announce that the 2017 HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race will be back at Caulfield racecourse in Victoria on 23 September.

Comments by NARA Chair, Maureen Milburn.
www.naraaustralia.com

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