HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice race in Copenhagen on Sunday
1 September 2018, Copenhagen, Denmark ~ Denmark’s Klampenborg racecourse plays host to the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival’s HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship series race on Sunday, 2 September 2018.
Apprentice jockeys from around the world will be seen in action in this race course which is Denmark’s main venue for racing and Sunday’s card also marks Ladies Day and will also host the Oaks for Thoroughbreds.
The HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship series race will be contested over 1800 metres on Klampenborg’s tricky course that has found out many a horse and many a jockey not used to racing on undulating footing.
In 2017 this race was won by local apprentice Ina Toverud taking advantage of her knowledge of the quirks of the course, but she also won the final in Abu Dhabi, showing that a good jockey is a good jockey.
Only three of this year’s contestants have ridden Klampenborg before. Liam Doran riding for Denmark has the most experience on the course, but despite a good CV, his horse Ayman will need a brilliant ride to win in this company that includes some of Scandinavia’s best horses. Among those is his stable companion and international performer Jaldi Karo under Eracles Eracleous of Cyprus.
Jaldi Karo comes from a victory at Jägersro over Al Mounteze Monlau over 2400 metres on dirt. In May he did likewise in the Group 3 Wathba Stallions Cup over 1730 metres on the same track. Although he has been beaten by Al Mounteze Monlau on the three occasions on turf, he has the advantage of having already run at Klampenborg. Last year he finished second in this race under Poland’s Karolina Dynarowska and she will carry her experience into the saddle of Al Mounteze Monlau in this year’s event. Still running green with 20 races to his name he’s twice a winner and never out of the frame in six races since his arrival in Sweden including a third place to YAS Racing’s Aoun in Belgium. It’s his first time on the course, but he’s also second best in at the weights.
The Dutch-trained Akoya is best in by a length or two. Also an international traveler he finished fourth in the French Derby before running second to Fazza Al Khalediah in Italy. He’s also got by far the most experienced rider on him – Eoin Walsh of Ireland with 88 victories for 980 attempts so far. Though neither have been to Klampenborg before the combination of a good horse and a very experienced jockey could be a winning one.
The least experienced jockey has drawn the most experienced horse, Athlete del Sol – an institution on the Scandinavian circuit. The Dutch warrior has won plenty of good races there. At Klampenborg, he was third home in last year’s Apprentice World Cup race. He’s well in at the weights on par with Al Mounteze Monlau and his German pilot Kerstin Elsaesser does have a pleasing strike rate.
Le Jason is another Dutch raider well in at the weights and ridden by Jessica Cooley from the UK. He won the Swedish Derby last year, but has only been seen this year when finishing about six lengths behind Jaldi Karo in May. He’s had time to reload and any horse coming up from The Netherlands should be taken seriously. His form is, however, almost as obscure as his stablemate La Vande is. Unraced, the 4-year-old is seeking fame and fortune under Riccardo Iacopini from Italy.
Cleopathra is another 4-y-o and an improving sort. Currently a red hot candidate for the Scandinavian Derby, she opened her Swedish account with a second before reversing the form on the winner next time out. Then she ran Al Mounteze to a couple of lengths, but couldn’t follow up on that finishing down the field to Aoun in Belgium. She could prove a nice mount for Norwegian Alan Wallace, who has ridden the course once before and looking for his 40th victory.
Toutatix with Hungarian Mattyas Varga onboard is the third in the trio of stable companions consisting of Jaldi Karo, Ayman and himself. A stellar performer on his day and with a double handful of kilos advantage on Ayman he still has to find another handful to match Jaldi Karo. Alejandra Gutierrez Baeza of Spain will have to find something in Suhaim.