​NARA Australia

                                                                                                                                       Thursday, June 6, 2013

 

Breeding:     With Derek Thompson as moderator, the opening session at the 2013 World Arabian Horse Racing Conference dealt with the topic of breeding  with the input of a select panel of experts.

 

Khalid Al Naboodah (UAE) and Ali Al Haddad (Iraq) highlighted the challenges they face in breeding in the UAE  which include importing feed. “Breeding is a challenge for us in UAE. We import everything and the weather is not helpful. We are fighting hard and struggling against many internal and external factors and above all the tough weather conditions pose the real challenge,” said Al Naboodah.

 

Kathy Smoke and Sam Vasquez from the USA told conference attendees that breeding did not have the same problems in the United States but they do have the issue of having more races to fill than horses to fill them, and the problem of exciting a new generation of horse racing enthusiasts to the sport.

 

Kathy Smoke said, “We are doing a very good job to preserve this noble creature.  Arabian horse breeding is flourishing in America, but like other industries, it was hard it by the recent economic problems. We have enough races but we don’t have enough horses and this is the dilemma. I invite others to send their horses to race in our country” Sam Vasquez said, “We have good stallions and mares but the breeding industry needs to attract new owners. The whole process depends on what returns small breeders can earn and whether this is encouraging or rewarding is a very big question. At first I bred for my own satisfaction, but now I’m making profits,” he continued.

 

Catarina Genberg of Sweden said that her horses remain outside in all weather and they have excellent grass. Mrs. Genberg said that more information would be what they need in Sweden, including information on horse sales and breed lines to purchase.

Iraqi Ali Al Haddad stated that breeding was challenging in the UAE. “I’m living in UAE and find it always very difficult to breed and bring up good horses. The lack of natural feeding (grass) is a very big disadvantage,” he said.

 

Kishore Mirpuri (Indian/Poland) said, “We have good Arabian horses in Poland and they do well against their Russian-bred horses on many occasions. I think breeding is promising in Poland and I think we need to mix horses for example from Poland with stallions from Russia.”

Martial Boisseuil, Director of Racing (Europe) of Wathba Stud Farm spoke of the challenges and success of breeding operations based in Normandy.

Vetting and Nutrition:    Liz Price from the UK took charge of the Vetting and Nutrition session and the speakers were, Dr Gonzalo Aebornoz (Argentine), Dr Sefian Alami (Morocco), Dr Robert La Caze (FR), Dr Frank Penide (FR), Mariam Al Shenazi (UAE), Dr Gulsah Kaya Kanasi (Turkey), Dr Andrew Dalgleish  (Scotland) and Dr Mohammed Al Machmoum (Morocco). This session included a very interesting segment on 'Bleeders' as well as covering the need to be diligent on preventing the use of drugs in racing.

 

Racing and Training:      Patrick Buckley was the moderator for the Racing and Training session and the participants who shared their experience and expertise were Georgina Ward (UK/ Oman), Jean Francois Bernard (FR), Jerome Rambaud (FR), Stephen Higgins (UK), Ernest Ortel (South Africa), Karen Karin Van Den Box Holland), Sultan Khalifa (UAE), Gillian Duffield (UK) and Faysal Al Rahmani (UAE). This session included a debate on the pros & cons of 'spelling horses'.

 

                                                                                                     Friday June 7, 2013

 

Jockeys:    The second day of the fourth edition of the World Arabian Racing Conference 2013 began with the moderator, Susanna Santesson from Germany, asking the jockeys their reasons for them taking up the profession and the challenges, shortfalls and passion of being a jockey.

Top Australian professional jockey, Nikita McLean said “It’s not a matter of strength. It’s a matter of fitness and talent. At some stage I thought I would need to act like a man to prove myself, but with hard work I was able to erase the differences between men and women. We are lucky in Australia to have excellent training schools for jockeys.”

 

While speaking of her challenges as a jockey, Saleema Taleei of Oman said, “The difficulties are countless. I’m a sportswoman. I was a sprinter but could not find competitions. In 2003 I found riding and was trained for 10 days, winning my first race.” Taleei  then trained in Australia and learned to compete with men and women, becoming a strong and confident rider on her return to the UAE. “Some trainers prefer to see women riding their horses rather than to be ridden by a male jockey. Horses too sometimes like women jockeys. I have ridden a winner in Group-3 and the same horse did not win under a male jockey,” said Taleei, who races in the UAE.

 

Duygu Fatura of Turkey said, “I started as a show jumper and my dream was to become a jockey in a country where at the time, there are no female jockeys. I became an amateur jockey at the age of thirty-seven.”

 

French  jockey Delphine Dubois added, “Women jockeys are doing very well in France and a trainer like Andre Fabre is using them. In France there’s every chance for every jockey to prove themselves whether male or female.” “The real challenge is not to lose a race which you could win. Trainers do not have enough time to look after the jockeys. They are busy with their horses and the jockeys have to look after themselves. A good jockey, man or woman, is a product of talent and hard work,” Dubois said.

 

Norwegian Veronika Aske, who works as a race channel TV presenter said, “We race once a week for the amateur jockeys, but it is difficult to be ready at all times to take part. It’s not easy to combine two jobs at the same time which make it very difficult for me as an amateur rider.  I was lucky because right from the beginning I have received the assistance of a good trainer who taught me how to ride.”

 

Emirati Saeed Al Mazrouei said, “I have started well. I have joined a number of training schools in Ireland and it was my desire to become a jockey. I have faced some difficulties and I had to work hard. My boss is helping me and I’m riding winners in UAE. I have raced in four countries. Two months ago I rode a winner in Oman. My best experience was in South Africa. There are many good jockeys and the better jockey is the one who makes fewer mistakes,” Al Mazrouei said.

 

The UAE’s top jockey, Ahmed Aljtebi said, “I started riding camels, then was lucky enough to be asked to ride horses, of which I had no experience. My training in Ireland, South Africa and Australia gave me great experience and confidence. Some horses need a woman’s touch. Women have better emotions than us. It was a great honour for me to fly my country’s flag in the US and elsewhere because I’m not riding on behalf of myself as a professional jockey, but as a UAE sportsman.”

 

Robert Litt of France said he loves horses and he went to Chantilly and started as an apprentice. “I did well but my boss retired and I was forced to go to Toulouse and work there before pulling out due to overweight. Then I started with Arabian horse riding and with the increase in the numbers of races I have established a new relationship with this dynasty. I believe the numbers of women jockeys are on the rise. Some of them are talented and find acceptance and support.”

 

Laws and Conditions:     Philip Brennan moderated a panel including sports lawyer Jirayr Habibian, Ahmad Abdelrazik, Egyptian Breeders Association; Jean Pierre Degasté, Axelle De Watrigant, and Paul Marie Gadot of France; Pam Cordrey, Senior Handicapper in Scandinavia; Yasi Mabrouk, Emirates Racing Association, and Izeta Selimanjin of ITC.

Jean Pierre Degasté explained the adaption of the Thoroughbred system to establish a level of equality in Arabian horses and events in each country which formed into the IFAHR Pattern Race and  Handicapper Committee for PA and GR races.  Izeta Selimanjin gave a slide presentation on how the handicappers use the website from the IFAHR site.

 

Women In Racing:     Led by Liz Price, UAE trainer, Jaci Wickham, said she has never faced any hurdle being a women trainer in the UAE over the past 23 years. Bahrain’s Lulwa Al Awadi urged the current women involved in Arabian racing to form a group to pass on their expertise to their counterparts in the Arab and Middle East countries. Other speakers were Harriett Rochester of the UK, Genny Hanes of the Arabian Racing Organization, Nelly Philippot of Belgium, and Lara Sawaya.

 

HE Asim Mirza Al Rahma, the UAE Ambassador to the Republic of Poland; HE Abdul Rahman Ghanim Al Mutaiwee, UAE Ambassador to the United Kingdom; HE Mohammed Ahmed Mahmood, the former  UAE Ambassador to Germany;  HESulaiman Hamed Al Mazroui , UAE’s Ambassador to Belgium and HE Saqr Nasser Ahmed Al Raisi, UAE’s Ambassador to Portugal attended Friday’s sessions.

 

                                                                                                            June 8, 2013,

 

Marketing, Future, and Innovation:  In a focussed discussion,  key points came to the fore during the morning session on the last day of the Conference.   The need to take the heroes of Purebred Arabian racing and present and market them to the outside world and the need to ensure children and youth get acquainted with horses at an early stage were two of the points highlighted.

 

 Shadwell Stud Director Richard Lancaster began the session stating three issues he sees as key to the growth of Arabian racing. One was engaging the public. “Racing is not engaging the young as it did in the past,” he stated. He  cited the problem of registration of some horses. “There are some doubts around the registration of some bloodlines and without solving this problem it will be difficult to expand in the industry.”  Lancaster also noted the issue of medication and keeping a clean sport as paramount to safeguarding the integrity of the sport.

 

 Boutros Boutros, Head of Corporate Communications at Emirates Airlines said that though Arabian racing had made a huge impact over the recent years-like all sports, it needs heroes. “You need to identify the stars and then promote them and market them.”

 Stephen Bowey of Invest AD said, “Our sponsorship of the Festival is very good as it has grown very fast and it has a very passionate following. This Festival has a vision and it not only works at the top level but also at the grassroots level. For Arabian racing to be global it must be operate like a global business. The product has to be regulated and attractive, with proper communication, integration and co-ordination sending a consistent message to the consumer.”

 

Wayne Hodes, US Director of Marketing and Sales at Sam Houston race course in Texas, explained that they integrate other events with the racing to bring in the public and involve local celebrities and media personalities to help promote the events. “Sponsors need to make revenues on investments just like what happens in other sports. We must encourage the youth and attract them to become interested in the sport to widen the base of participation and interest,” he said.

 

 AFAC Chairman, Yves Plantin, reminded everyone of the importance of the small breeder. “As a breeder, this industry would have not survived without the hard work of the small breeders and we must encourage them by opening new markets. There are many big stables emerging but the small breeders must be looked after.”

 

Moderator, Saeed Mubarak Al Hajiri, Head of the Olympic Committee of the UAE as well as member of Abu Dhabi Tourism  directed a lively exchange, engaging  speakers with questions such as: “How does being a sponsor benefit you? He also asked for personal experience with specifics on how to integrate Arabian racing with Thoroughbred races and how the panel would grow the sport.

Touching on the success of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival, Ms Lara Sawaya, Director of HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival and Head of International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR) Ladies Racing said goals had to be first set and then all hurdles on the way should be negotiated.

 

 “Four years ago we started with 4 races and three sponsors, today we are staging 73 races this year and the number of sponsors is now 19. There will be difficulties but we have to overcome them,” she said. Commenting on further growth, she said at Friday’s session, “We have Bahrain and Portugal as the next countries where the Festival could make its debut. I am very lucky to have the full support of His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, Supreme President of the Family Development Foundation (FDF) and Head of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.” Sawaya also urged all officials to co-ordinate their efforts and consolidate on the great platform that the Festival had provided for the sport of Arabian racing.

 

Workshop:    All members of the various panels were present at the workshop and the audience was invited to ask questions to any panel member.  This opportunity provided some lively discussions covering a number of subjects and concerns. Ms Lara Sawaya urged the officials involved with Purebred Arabian racing in their respective countries to put their differences aside and work towards promotion of Arabian racing. “His Highness Sheikh Mansoor and Her Highness Sheikha Fatima have done a lot over the last few years and now it is up to you to consolidate on this great initiative by the UAE leaders,” she told the delegates.

With a lot of suggestions pouring in towards making the rules and regulations uniform with regard to racing conditions and eligibility of horses, it was not possible to come up with any concrete solutions.  At the end of workshop, Ms. Lara Sawaya asked everybody if they wanted to “move along” and leave the past behind, and that was the overwhelming conclusion.

 

 The HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival is organized by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority and co-ordinated by Abu Dhabi Sports Council in association with Emirates Racing Authority, IFAHR and Emirates Arabian Horse Society, supported by General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare and Fegentri with Emirates airlines as the official carrier and sponsored by Invest AD, Arabtec Holding PJSC, Al Rashid Investment, Areej Al Ameerat, Al Awani General Enterprises, Kabale, Al Wathba Centre, the UAE’s General Women’s Union, the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy, Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2013, Dr. Nader Saab Switzerland, Wathba Stud Farm, Al Wathba Center, Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Racing Post, Eastern Mangroves Hotel and SPA and Eastern Mangroves Suites-Abu Dhabi by Jannah, Galleries Lafayette and Toulouse Airport.