Penultimate leg in Duindigt promises keen contest
17 October 2014, Duindigt The Netherlands ~ After the superb win by UAE Apprentice jockey Ahmed Al Subose in Tarbes, France last week, all eyes will be on another UAE Apprentice, Saeed Al Mazrouei, in the Sunday 19 October penultimate race of the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival’s HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship (IFAHR) to be held at the Duindigt racecourse in The Netherlands.
In his fourth season as an Apprentice, Al Mazrouei has 22 wins under his belt and will be riding the C.J.M Wolters-trained Derham. The grey cold by Amer has had two second-placed finishes this season and will need to improve on that to better some fancied rivals.
The Diana Dorenburg-trained Hurra and the Gillian Duffield-trained Munya Farah appeal the most in a small but quality field for the turf contest over 1900 metres with a prize fund of Euros 22,000 on offer.
Spain’s Jaime Gelabert Bautista, who finished 5th on Ainhoa Madjanis in the recently concluded third leg of the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship (IFAHR) in Tarbes, France last Sunday, gets the ride on Hurra. Hurra won the Qatar NEAR Elite Arabian Derby on August 3 and prior to that also won the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival’s Wathba Stud Farm Cup 3 race at the same course in Duindigt.
The Duffield-trained Munya Farah, a winner of the Wathba Stud Farm Cup Premier Stakes in Newbury last year, finished fourth to Udjess de Bouzouls in the Festival’s Euros 30,000 HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race on June 22. The drop in class could suit the Munjiz filly that will be ridden by Malaysian Apprentice Amirul Adli Ismadi.
Dorenburg also saddles Nabukko to be ridden by Irish Apprentice Josh Doyle, Fareedha to be ridden by Czech Republic’s Simona Molkova and Jimmy des Cedres under Hector Crouch from Great Britain.
Germany’s Bayarsaikhan Ganbat, who finished third in last year’s HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship (IFAHR) finale in Abu Dhabi, will be looking to once again clinch a berth in this year’s final to be ruin on November 9 in Abu Dhabi. With 96 wins under his belt, Ganbat will be hoping for a winning debut from Astarte da Bonorva.
American apprentice Laura Carson, second in the Newbury leg of this HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship, gets another chance to book a berth in the November 9 finals and will be riding Robbie the First.
Sunday’s winner will join the previous three winners at Sacramento, Newbury and Tarbes and will be joined by ten other Apprentice Jockeys for the grand finale of the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship (IFAHR) series which was unveiled by the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival this year.
“We are extremely delighted to be staging this race, which aims to boost Apprentice jockeys, here in The Netherlands. With this event, we will have the proud privilege of having staged races of all the four series organized by the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival – the other three being the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup series, the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship IFAHR series and the Wathba Stud Farm Cup series,” said Mr Wieger Joost de Ruiter, IFAHR Treasurer and Chairman of the Dutch Arabian Racing Committee.
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.
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