American, Denise Gault, receives Lifetime Achievement Award
4 April 2015, Los Angeles, California, USA ~ French-bred Arabian horse Valiant Boy SBFAR was named the 2014 Horse of The Year in the 28th annual Darley USA Awards sponsored by the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival and American Denise Gault was given the Best Lifetime Achievement Trophy as part of the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Darley Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, on 3 April.
Raced by HH Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the seven-year-old son of Darweesh, was unbeaten in four US starts before finishing a close second in the US$1m Dubai Kahayla Classic Gr-1 at Meydan on the Dubai World Cup night on March 28.
In the US Darley Awards, Lazur Hess claimed the three-year-old colts and geldings Award for owner Mark Ashbt with Love To Dance walking away with the fillies equivalent of the trophy for owner Mark Powell.
RB Champagne Taste landed the four-year-old colts/ geldings’ Award for the Rosebrook Farm LLC and Our Princess was voted winner of the four-year-old fillies for Cre Run Enterprises LLC.
Valiant Boy SBFAR, who was later named the Horse of The Year also snatched the verdict as the Best Older Horse with Ms Dixie claiming the Best Older Mare trophy for Quarter Moon Ranch.
Kristen Swan was over the moon when elected the Best Jockey, Lynn A Ashby won the Best Trainer Trophy, Dianne K Waldron earned the Best Breeder Award and Guy Neivens was chosen the Best Owner.
US horsewoman Denise Gault was awarded the Best Lifetime Achievement Trophy in reward for her contribution to the development and promotion of the Arabian racing industry.
In the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Darley Awards the Australian photographer Ms. Nadine Frampton was voted the Best Photographer of the 2014 after having photographed all of the major Arabian races in Australia and other parts of the world.
The HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Darley Best Breeder Award went to Mrs. Catherine de Robert Labarthe from France after saddling the winners of Qatar Arabian World Cup Gr-1, and other top finishers in Group-1 races.
Turkish contender Mrs. Deniz Kurtel was named the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Darley Awards ‘ Best Owner in the 2014 following her successful campaign during the year after sending 63 winners and 51 seconds.
Leading Dutch trainer Ms. Karin van den Bos won the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Darley Awards- Best Trainer Award for the second straight year after saddling nine winners with a strike rate of 30 percent during 2014.
The HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Darley Best Jockey Trophy went to UK in the name of Stefania Gandola, winner of seven races and placed in nine events from 20 starts with strike rate of 35 percent during the year.
Moroccan filly Youjiza was named the Best 3-year-Old Filly in the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Darley Awards after earning GBP137.185 from seven wins in 13 starts for owner Mr. Azzedine Sedrati.
French filly Lorra did the better work in the Four-Year-Old Fillies category. The Mawood filly achieved a record striking rate of 75 percent and earned GBP 100.000 in 2014.
The HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Darley Best Mare Award was won by the brilliant French Djainka Des Forges, a multi Group-1 winner with earnings of GBP 559.385 at a strike rate of 66 per cent. Djainka has won two of her three starts in 2014 and finished fourth in the third one.
The French TV Presenter Fanny Hubard-Salmon, a seasonal world traveler with more than 20 years’ experience, was voted the Best TV Presenter while the US journalist Denise Hearst was awarded the Best Journalist Trophy in the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Darley Awards.
In the endurance discipline, the 22-year-old Marijke Visser from Netherlands, landed the Best Endurance Rider Award.
Special Awards
However, the UAE Endurance Team was honored with the Best Spirit Award for their great performances as gold medalists and for having obeyed the decisions when instructed not to ride. Special Awards were also presented to HE Lulwa Awadhi and Dr. Wadoda Badran for their strong support to the women sports.
Ms Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, Chairman of the Int’l Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA) and Chairman of Ladies & Apprentice Racing Committee in the Int’l Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR) thanked once again HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Mother of the UAE, Chairperson of the General Women’s Union, Supreme Chairperson of the Family Development Foundation and Chairwoman of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood and Mother of the World, for their far-sighted vision and directives without which nothing would have been achieved.
Finally, Sawaya mourned the sad demise of Susanne Santesson who passed away while she was heading for California from Germany to attend the ceremony. “Under the directives of HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, two races will be staged in the name of Susanna as mark of respect to her great contributions to the equine sport. The first one will be held in Warsaw during the upcoming World Arabian Horse Racing Conference in May and the other will be staged in Abu Dhabi on November 8,” she said.
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 in cooperation with Emirates Racing Authority, IFAHR, Emirates Arabian Horse Society, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare with The National Archives 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 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 2015, Dr. Nader Saab Switzerland, Al Wathba Center, Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Eastern Mangroves Suites-Abu Dhabi by Jannah, Yas Channel, Omeir Travels and Racing Post.
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