Duindigt, The Netherlands: Nine lady jockeys from around the globe will be in action in the Group 3 HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship at the Duindigt race course in The Netherlands on Sunday.
The 1800-metre contest on turf, which is part of the HH Shaikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, carries a prize fund of 30,000 euros (Dh128,333).
The winning rider will qualify for the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship finale to be held in Abu Dhabi in November.
Among the nine lady are are professionals — Poland’s Aleksandra Kaleta and Swiss lady jockey Nadia Burger.
Other riders are Hungary’s Virginia Drexler, Norway’s Emilie Finckenhagen, Cindy Klinkenberg of The Netherlands, Ireland’s Gillian Ryan, Sweden’s Julia Presits, Poland’s Aleksandra Kaleta, Germany’s Claudia Fleissner, Swiss rider Nadia Burger, and Spain’s Beatriz Alonso.
Ishraaq, a five-year-old bay mare, has won two of her three starts and also finished seventh to Macallan in the Festival’s Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup in Sweden.
Raya C, owned by Maragret De Ruiter, has been competing in the Festival’s races since 2014 and has also won the Wathba Stud Farm Cup. He will be looking to add to those victories under Swedish rider Presits.
Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the Shaikh Mansoor Festival, said: “Duindigt race course is a very popular stop for the Festival and has staged all races held by the Festival.
“With two professional jockeys, it will be an exciting race as they will all compete to clinch a berth in the finals of the prestigious HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship series.”
