Newbury: The Arabian Racing Organisation (ARO), the sole Arabian Racing Authority in the UK, has been urged to excel itself and find more pathways to help take the sport, and in particular the popular Dubai International Arabian Race Day (DIARD), to a higher level.

The recommendation came from none other than Mirza Al Sayegh, Chairman of the DIARD’s Organising Committee, who is of the opinion that the ARO, who operates with the support of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), need to ‘up their game’ if they aim to further develop Arabian racing in the country.

“We have been talking to the ARO about their role in promoting Arabian racing and have made it very clear that we are not happy with their efforts,” Al Sayegh told Gulf News, just five days prior to this year’s renewal of the much-anticipated DIARD meeting at Newbury Racecourse.

The DIARD, which features eight races including five international contests and three Group 1 races, was created by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, as a platform to project the Arabian racehorse and boost its standing in UK and around the world.

“His Highness Shaikh Hamdan has spared no effort to support and promote Arabian racing, which is very close to his heart, for the past 30 years,” said Al Sayegh. “While he is pleased that the sport has thrived, he is also concerned about its future.

“We believe that a lot more can be done to develop the sport and it’s not just about raising the prize money for the races, which we have done this year.

“I don’t want to go into the details, but we want the ARO to be more proactive. There are many, many ways to manage the sport and we would like to see them doing their bit.”

The DIARD committee, which has been headed by Al Sayegh for the last 30 years, are always looking to the future and of new methods to promote the sport. This year the committee, with the consent of Shaikh Hamdan, boosted the prize money for the three Group 1 contests by £20,000 (Dh96,771).

In addition, a travel allowance was granted to trainers and connections to encourage greater participation from overseas runners. The DIAR committee have also added a series of prep races to the DIAR calendar, which now include races in Italy, France, Holland and Sweden, bringing the entire 2016 DIAR programme to 24 races, including 10 at Group or Listed level.

This has been supported by a bonus scheme, inaugurated last year, so that any horse which finishes in the first three of the designated warm-up races and then goes on to win one of the bonus races at the DIARD race meeting at Newbury on Saturday, July 24, will receive additional prize money.

Al Sayegh revealed that he will be meeting ARO officials this week to express his concerns over what he labelled a ‘lack of progress’ by the authorities.

“We are even prepared to seek other sources to help promote Arabian racing and the Dubai International Arabian Races,” he said. “We are resolute in our commitment to growing the sport and will take any measure to meet our goals, and the goals of His Highness Shaikh Hamdan who has been promoting Purebred Arabian racing worldwide from the grass-roots to the highest level.”