Ostend, Belgium: Sha’hir won the Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Group 3) race while Great Britain’s Catherine Walton emerged winner in the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race at the Hippodrome Wellington in Ostend, Belgium.
The two premier races of the HH Shaikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival ensured plenty of excitement for the packed stands as the Festival runs into one of its busiest periods of the year.
The 1800-metre Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Group 3) race with a prize fund of 35,000 euros (Dhhad attracted a very strong field with the fancied duo of Al Mahdod and Al Nashmi from the Al Shaqab Racing but it was another Qatari-owned horse that sprung a surprise.
Mickael Forest on Sha’hir, owned by Shaikh Mohammad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, made a decisive move to pull ahead as the horses turned for home and that turned out to be the winning formula.
Qatari jockey Faleh Bughenaim, aiming for his second Group 3 success on Al Mahdod, lead for most part of the race with Sha’hir in close pursuit. However the pace seemed too hot and once Sha’hir hit the front Al Mahdod could not keep pace though stablemate Al Nashmi under Thomas Messina took over.
Al Nashmi made a strong effort to catch up with Sha’hir, but the 5-year-old son of Amer, trained by Francis Rohaut, held on to win by over two lengths.
Richard Mullen on Fajr Qardabiyah finished third ahead of Al Mahdod. In the 5-furlong sprint for a place in the grand final of the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship in November in Abu Dhabi, it was 39-year-old Briton Catherine Walton who topped the pack.
Racing for the first time on a Purebred Arabian horse and also for the first time in Belgium, Walton steered Messi to a great win with a blistering run through the centre. L’Eau Du Tigre under Peelman. Cali De L’Ardus under Italy’s Jessica Marcialis finished in that order in the Euros 30,000 race.
The jump jockey from North England said: “I was looking forward to this ride and I just tried my best.”
Messi, owned and trained by Vido Keersmaekers, was a popular win for the home crowd. Abdullah Marzouki, representative of the UAE Embassy in the Kingdom of Belgium, Adnan Sultan Al Nuaimi, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the HH Shaikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, Saif Awani, representing sponsors Al Awani General Enterprises and Xavier Ziani, professional jockey and Ambassador of the Festival, attended the prize distribution ceremony and presented the trophies.
