HH Sheikha Lateefa Bint Mansoor Al Nahyan International Pony championship race
2 September 2018, Hastings, New Zealand ~ Caitlin Rennie from the Palmerston North Pony Club won the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival’s HH Sheikha Lateefa Bint Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan International Pony championship race held on the opening day of the Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival on Saturday, 1 September 2018, at the Hastings racecourse.
The Festival’s HH Sheikha Lateefa Bint Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan International Pony championship race was part of the Tarzino Trophy Daffodil Raceday that also launched New Zealand’s Group 1 racing for the season, bringing the big guns of racing to Hastings to battle at one of the country’s stellar racing events.
Riding Buckton Showdown, Rennie finished first in the race which had attracted eight pony jockeys.
The 14-year-old Rennie had earned a place in the Hastings race when she won the Wanganui Jockey Club race in June this year. Her mother is former leading New Zealand jockey Kim Clapperton who was one of the pioneers for women jockeys in this country and rode with great success in Malaysia and Singapore.
Rennie will join the winners of nine races in nine other countries in the final of the HH Sheikha Lateefa Bint Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan International Pony championship which will be held in Abu Dhabi in November.
Ms. Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, Chairperson of the International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA) and Chairperson of Ladies & Apprentice Racing Committees in the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR) congratulated the winner and said, “The HH Sheikha Lateefa Bint Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan International Pony championship which was introduced in this calendar year has attracted huge response and will go a long way in inspiring the young jockeys to continue in the sport.”
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, with National Feed and Flour Production and Marketing Co. LLC as associate sponsors, The National Archives as the official partner and Emirates airline as the official carrier, in cooperation with Emirates Racing Authority, IFHRA, IFAHR, Emirates Arabian Horse Society, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abu Dhabi Youth Council, General Authority for Sports and sponsored by Ayadi LLC, Global United Veterinary Services LLC, Nissan Middleast Al Massood Automobiles, Nirvana Travels and Tourism LLC, Equicare Veterinary Services, Alawal Stud, Cavalos Equine Care & Supplies, SET Sustainable Environmental Technologies, Al Awani General Enterprises, Omeir Travels, Kabale, YAS Channel, Abu Dhabi Falconers Club, Emirates Falconers Club, Mohammed Bin Zayed Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School, Racing Post, Paris Turf, Al Wathba Centre, the UAE’s General Women’s Union, The Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy, Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2018, Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Anantara Eastern Mangroves Spa and Resort.
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