WATHBA STUD FARM CUP PREMIER HANDICAP STAKES
ARO is delighted to welcome the return of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival to Newbury Racecourse on Sunday 5th August.
In 2011 the Wathba Stud Farm Cup attracted horses from a wide variety of UK Breeders. This year the format of the race has been amended to allow more horses into the contest, yet a Breeders Premium of £1,000 will still be awarded to the breeder of the first placed horse past the post registered to a UK breeder with fewer than 5 active broodmares.
The Wathba Stud Farm Cup is part of a global series of races that serve to reward and promote breeding of Arabian racehorses worldwide. Including the aforementioned Breeders Prize, the total prize fund for this race is £5,000.
ARO Racing Manager, Antonia Newman, commented:
“In recent years the produce from larger European & Middle Eastern Studs has saturated the UK breeders market. Whilst without question this has enhanced the quality of UK Arabian racing, the smaller British breeder has struggled to keep up. Representatives from HH Sheikh Mansoor Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival have recognised the need to support grass roots breeders, and this race is a welcome addition to the UK calendar.”
The 2012 renewal of this race promises to be a very exciting contest. 17 horses have been entered from a variety of different owners and breeders. Local breeders represented in the race entries include:-
Ms Jane Haddock, a private breeder based in Wiltshire who has bred Arabians for racing since the sport’s inception in 1978. Jane enjoyed great success with her homebred top class mare, Nokomys, who was the best of her sex in the UK for some time. She has 3 horses entered; Ambrose, a full brother to Nokomys and winner of this race last year, in addition to Sandababa and Hotfoot.
Mrs Jo Kippen first began breeding Arabians for the show ring almost 30 years ago. The Kippen family soon developed a passion for racing and now breed from an exclusive number of mares from their base at Bury-St-Edmunds near Newmarket. Their horse, Verdora, won ARO’s Gold Final at the 2011 Season Finale at Warwick.
Miss Sam Davison enjoyed a successful training partnership with Adam Newey and had multiple winners on Dubai International Arabian Raceday. Now training professionally under BHA Rules, she has had success both in flat racing and over jumps. As a breeder she is represented by two horses in this race; the current co-leader of the ARO Purebred Arabian Championship, Cosmic Girl, and new recruit Shadiya.
Mrs Liz Harrington was previously the head of a large breeding operation at Cockwell Grange near Bath. Liz bred many horses on behalf of HH Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum from the 1980’s onwards. She is represented here by Whisper.
The Arabian Racing Organisation is very grateful to HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his continued support of Arabian racing in the UK and we look forward to welcoming his representative to Newbury Racecourse in August.
