August 24, 2013, Warsaw ~ Last year’s HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies Championship race winner Celtik aims to score again
Ameretto, last year’s (2012) winner here at the Sluzewiec race course, has once again been in terrific form this year and will be the horse to beat in Sunday’s (August 25) Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Group 3) Nagroda Europy, one of the two feature events of the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival.
Bred by Dr. Paul-Jean Daverio, who heads the German Arabian Racing and owned by Manuela Scharfenberg, the 7-year-old son of Amer is also in line to scoop the additional Euros 30,000 on offer.
The HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival have earmarked the Euros 30,000 bonus for the horse which wins the Festival’s European Triple Challenge which includes the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup races held in Duindigt, The Netherlands, Hoppegarten, Berlin in Germany and here in Sluzewiec in Warsaw.
Under Mauro Manueddu, Ameretto has already won the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Arabian Cup (Group 3) race in Duindigt and before that had finished second Poulain Kossack in the Festival’s Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Listed) race in Berlin earlier this year. While the Euros 30,000 is almost assured Ameretto will be looking to also carry home a slice of the Euros 25,000 on offer for Sunday’s 2600-metre Group 3 contest on turf.
Ussam de Carrere and Nonet, third in this race last year, and Impact are the main challenger’s to Ameretto with Pirat, Famer and Amuletti are also in the fray.
The HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race over 1600-metres and with a prize fund of Euros 20,000 has also attracted last year’s winner Celtic, a Polish-bred 6-year old which will be ridden Norway’s Silja Storen.
Storen, who kick-started the 2012 HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship with a victory in Oman, will however face a stiff challenge from Poranny Blask under Australian lady jockey Danielle Walker and Elgaspar under Polish jockey Magdalena. Other runners in this race which helps to promote lady jockeys from around the world, are Galaxy under American jockey Eilidh Grant, Ojcow under German Janine Beckmann, Hiszpan under Swedish jockey Anna Klasson, Ananke under Czech Radka Hradcova, Carski Kurjer under Briton Joanna Mason, Sariah Alkhalediah under Hungary’s Judit Dickinson, Echo Ofiro under French jockey Caroline Brunaud, Nairobi Rose under Irish jockey Jane Foley and Cedrolia under Turkey’s Duygu Fatura.
HE Mubarak Al Muhairi, Director General, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority said in a message, “Poland has been an important stop for the Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival races and with both the winners of last year running again it reflects the consistency and importance of the races.”
Ms Lara Sawaya, Director of HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival and Head of International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR) for Ladies Racing said, “The weather conditions are perfect and we expect a good response from the Polish racing fans for Sunday’s meeting. We thank HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs for making Poland the venue for the 2015 World Arabian Horse Racing Conference. The lady jockeys have all arrived and with 12 countries being represented we are satisfied with the progress of this initiative by Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, Supreme President of the Family Development Foundation (FDF) and Head of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.”
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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