Breeding, rules and racing evolution the day one highlights at IFAHR conference

The tenth World Arabian Horse Racing Conference got under way in Bucharest on Wednesday morning with a lively panel discussion on the subject of breeding and improving the bloodlines of Purebred Arabian racehorses.

An invited audience of nearly 300 delegates were formally welcomed to the four-day event, which has grown over the last decade into one of the key events in the Sheikh Mansoor Racing Festival calendar.

The session was opened by His Excellency Dr Ahmed Al Matrouchi, UAE ambassador to Romania, along with Faysal Al Rahmani, the chair of the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing, and Viorel Dabija of the host Romanian federation, ARAC.

The session on breeding began with the panel being canvassed on the subject of what the key ingredients are to unearthing future champions.

UAE champion breeder Khalid Al Nabooda (left) and French counterpart Hassan Mousli in deep discussion during the opening session of the 10th World Arabian Horse Racing Forum in BucharestCredit: Racing Post / Scott Burton

French-based Hassan Mousli pointed to the value of an experienced eye to complement the rapidly-evolving technical aspects available to breeders.

"Without doubt luck plays a part but intuition is central to every successful breeder," said Mousli. "You must have patience – after all it is four years between you choosing the stallion and the result reaching the racetrack – but there is no surefire method for success, there are a lot of different ingredients and you are dealing with a living organism."

Susan Meyer, president of the Arabian Jockey Club, stressed the importance of establishing a good band of broodmares with the memorable phrase: "You are married to your mares for much longer than to any one stallion, so choose carefully."

Successful in rearing both show and racehorses in the United States, Meyer highlighted what she considers to be the difference between being a breeder and a producer.

"A breeder has a very long-term goal and is looking a generation down the road," said Meyer. "Producers have more of a short-term aim to uncover the next star. We all want that, but great stars are not always the foundations of a great breeding programme."

US breeder Susan Meyer gives the benefit of her experience during the opening session of the 10th World Arabian Horse Racing Forum in BucharestCredit: Racing Post / Scott Burton

The debate soon turned to the developing technologies of artificial insemination and embryo transfer.

Emmanuel Cessac heads one of France's most prolific stallion station and artificial insemination centres in the Haras de Thouars.

Cessac highlighted the greater variety available to breeders of every economic level in choice of stallion and the resulting broadening of gene pools in long-established racing jurisdictions.

Dr Andrew Dalglish argued that the clock was the proof that the breed had advanced in the last ten years and credited the extra diversity in pedigrees, while insurance expert Mark Weeks pointed to the reduced risk involved in not transporting mares and shuttling stallions.

There was a much broader range of views expressed on the subject of embryo transfer, a method which can increase the number of foals a mare can produce in any given year.

While many panellists agreed that it could speed up the cycle whereby breeders learn the best matings for their mares, there was concern at potential downsides to its use.

Meyer summed up the two sides of the coin with a personal testimony.

She said: "Embryo transfer offered me the chance with a champion older mare, who hadn't gone full term in three years, to produce a foal, who turned out to be a filly that could continue that line. Used judiciously it can be a help, but I am not personally in favour of multiple foals in a year, I think it's tough on the mares."

Polish racing supremo Thomasz Chamouliak speaks during the opening session of the 10th World Arabian Horse Racing in Bucharest.Credit: Racing Post / Scott Burton

Thomasz Chamouliak of Poland arguably captured the mood of many of his co-panellists when calling for greater regulation of embryo technology.

"This is really scary and needs to be fully controlled," he said.

Wide-ranging rules discussion

The first panel of the afternoon was convened around the subject of rules and regulatory issues, with key contributions on the difficulty of finding common resources across different jurisdictions when it came to making entries and checking local racing laws.

The panel soon found itself in a broader discussion of how to promote the sport to a wider audience as well as a debate on the relative merits of placing one or two Purebred Arabian races on high-profile thorouhbred cards – an increasingly popular model in the United Kingdom – as opposed to concentrating on all-Arabian fixtures.

Panellists, hosts and sponsors pose for a photograph after the session on rules and regulation on day one of the World Arabian Horse Racing Forum in BucharestCredit: Ash White

Swedish trainer Bodil Blomqvist pointed to the economic drawbacks of travelling horses for just one race, a key concern for many in Scandinavia who regularly compete both with their Nordic neighbours and further afield.

One radical idea proposed by Morocco's Dr Azzedine Sedrati was to have international racedays built around nations or areas competing against one another in an attempt to generate the same levels of public support as exists in football.

"The owners would still own the horses, but people need to see a colour or a flag," said Sedrati. "We have to make our horses belong to our citizens."

A further idea from the floor of a Royal Ascot-style festival meeting with revolving hosts received support from the Royal Cavalry of Oman's Mohammed Al Hashemi.

Both proposals are sure to be popular springboards for further debate as the week progresses.

De Rouaille and Mullen shine light on UAE success

The final panel of the afternoon focused on training and riding and was a chance for some of the leading lights of the UAE scene to share their experiences.

Richard Mullen pointed to the importance of stable jockeys and the notion of team work, especially with a view to a horse's long-term development.

Jean de Rouaille bean his training career in France more than 30 years ago but, even after spending many years in the UAE, confessed he still found the shortened season a challenge to his preferred methods of giving a horse time.

"We have faclities in the Emirates that you can't even have in Chantilly, but for me the problem is still that the season of only five and a half months is very difficult," said De Rouaille. "We have exactly 159 Arabian races [in a season] and you cannot miss it. If you have a problem with one of your horses, their season is almost over.

"If you want to work properly, which I try to do, it's very difficult."

Thierry Delegue now works as racing manager for Sheikh Mansour Bin Zhayed Al Nahyan in France and, combined with his previous role as director-general of France Galop, he identified the need for more international coordination of top-class fixtures, especially those which act as races of selection for the breed.

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