Racetrack conditions before the race on 21st February 2016
20 February 2016, St. Moritz ~ On Saturday morning, eight horses galloped without any problems on all parts of the racetrack on the frozen lake of St. Moritz where the final race day of the 2016 White Turf will be held on Sunday, 21 February.
Any final decision will be taken on Sunday, an hour before the first race.
The Arabian race, the third leg of the HH Sheikha Fatima Ladies World Championship, is set to run over 1600-metres on the ice/snow track and this is one of the world series Championship races for ladies for 2016.
The horses and lady jockeys to run on the ice track are Alibaba Del Sol under Dina Danekilde; Athlete Del Sol under Marie-Anne Bernadet; Nil Ashal under Jessica Marcialis; Al Murjaan under Csenge Sutak; El Dor Pribot under Nadia Burger; Winston Rocket under Caroline Murtagh; Al Janoob under Ann Stokell; last week’s winner, Nil Kamla under Anna van den Troost; Oriental Myth under Astrid Wullschleger; Djeko Saric under Rebecca Danz and Zanubiya A under Karin Zwahlen.
While last week’s Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup was reduced to a 4-furlong race (800 metres) the organizer’s of this unique event are hoping for some help from the weather gods.
“We are told that major parts of the outer rails of the racetrack are available for training purposes and this gives us hope,” said Ms Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the 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).
“Last week’s winner Nil Ashal and last year’s winner Al Janoob along with Alibaba Del Sol and Athlete Del Sol are all starting, and this should be a firecracker of a race,” Sawaya said.