Eclectic cast and big crowd delight organisers of key Arabian meeting at Newbury

Organisers of Sunday's Dubai International Arabian Races day at Newbury have expressed their delight at both the increase in the number of international runners and attendance of 7,400 – bigger than for just about every thoroughbred meeting at the course bar Saturdays.

The flagship event is organised under the patronage of Hamdan Al Maktoum, whose stud director at Shadwell, Richard Lancaster, had a letter published in Sunday's Racing Post underlining that the sport of Arabian racing in Britain had reached a crossroads.

He wrote: "The sport has to decide whether it wants to be recognised as an activity in its own right, which means gaining full recognition from the racing authorities, or be an amateur pastime indulged in by a few enthusiasts."

Sunday's meeting will hopefully have provided a shot in the arm for the sport, especially the fact that 24 of the 71 runners on the eight-race card travelled from overseas.

The feature event, the Shadwell Dubai International Stakes, was won by Gazwan, owned and bred by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani and trained by Julian Smart.

It was the eight-year-old's second win in the contest and he joins Bengali D’Abret, Al Sakbe, No Risk Al Maury as only the fourth dual winner in the history of the race.

Connections had already been successful earlier in the card with Methgal, a ready winner of the DIAR International Stakes. Both horses were ridden by Olivier Peslier.

Royal approval

Sheikh Hamdan was present to watch his homebreds Al Azeeza and Thamaraat win the two premier handicaps. Al Azeeza gave her trainer James Owen his first DIAR success when taking the Emirates Premier Handicap over a mile under Jim Crowley, and the Newmarket-based trainer also saddled the second, Naishaan, and third, Farhaa for Sheikh Hamdan.

Thamaraat’s win under Tadhg O’Shea in the 1m4f Dubai Developments Premier Handicap provided back-to-back victories in the race for trainer Phil Collington.

Hamdan Al Maktoum: raceday is organised under his patronage and he was on hand to greet two winnersCredit: Edward Whitaker

Genny Haynes, Arabian Racing Organisation commercial and finance director, said: “The success of DIAR and the prep-race series was evident in the number of entries received and, in particular, the significant increase in international horses declared.

"It confirms that the appetite for international Arabian racing at the highest level continues to expand and which we at ARO are pleased to encourage as it is part of HH Sheikh Hamdan’s vision for the day.

“The day never fails to produce competitive racing of the highest quality, and to see Gazwan, one of the best Arabians in the world, regain his title in the feature race was a highlight, as he began his stellar career racing under ARO rules as a three-year-old at this very track.

"It was also pleasing to welcome new trainers, both international and domestic, to the DIAR winner's enclosure in Frederic Sanchez, Peter Deckers, James Owen and Anthony Holdsworth, and we hope that they will all be back again in 2020.”

Haynes added: “We thank HH Sheikh Hamdan, the DIAR committee, Shadwell Stud, all our sponsors, Newbury racecourse, Sportsguide and Equine Creative Media for their ongoing commitment to DIAR.

"We also thank the owners, trainers, jockeys, officials and racegoers for making the day such a success and we look forward to their support for the 2020 fixture.”

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