Competitive fields declared for showpiece Purebred Arabian races at Windsor

A field of eight will line up for the prestigious HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup at Windsor on Sunday, including 2017 winner Mith’haf Athbah and four other Group winners from the UK, Sweden and France.

The mile contest will be the first Group 1 Purebred Arabian race ever held at Windsor, which has previously hosted the Group 3 Purebred Arabian ARO Cup, and whose top race for thoroughbreds is the Winter Hill Stakes, which takes place later this month.

The HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup is the highlight of HH Sheikh Mansoor Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival events in the UK.

These began with a stage of the Wathba Stallions Cup, run at Chelmsford in June won by Mawarid. A second Wathba Stallions Cup contest was run at Lingfield last Saturday and produced a notable one-two for Delyth Thomas as owner and trainer of the winner Callymay and second Kork MHF.

On Monday, the ten-runner HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship (IFAHR) race takes place at Windsor and will feature jockeys from Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the UK.

Nineteen-year-old amateur Antonia Peck is the UK representative. Based in Newmarket with leading Arabian trainer James Owen, she is heading the ARO Lady Jockeys Championship.

Pride in Windsor

Genny Haynes, the Arabian Racing Organisation's commercial and finance director, said: “We are delighted to welcome back the HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup to the UK and are proud that this is also the first Group 1 event that Royal Windsor racecourse has hosted.

"The HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship (IFAHR) race is a wonderful opportunity for lady riders from around the world to compete against each other and share their experiences."

She added: “ARO is extremely grateful for the continued support of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival and Lara Sawaya. Our meetings have always been very well received by the local racegoers at Royal Windsor and we are looking forward to watching some competitive Arabian racing on Sunday and Monday.

"We also thank Clarissa Daly of the UK Pony Racing Authority for enabling us to host the first pony race in association with ARO.”

Continuing their support for stable staff, Racing Welfare will be sponsoring the best-turned-out Award for both Arabian races, with a cash prize £20 and a Racing Welfare gilet to the winning groom.

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