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First United German Arabian Racehorse Organisation

Iset La Belle and Djinn, both the horses owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minster for Defence, won the first and the second places respectively at The President of the UAE Challenge Derby held in the beginning of September at Baden Baden, Germany.

Iset La Belle and Djinn, both the horses owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minster for Defence, won the first and the second places respectively at The President of the UAE Challenge Derby held in the beginning of September at Baden Baden, Germany. Ridden by Davy Bonilla, Iset La Belle faced stiff competitions from other contenders throughout the Derby. Three other horses including Djinn, ridden by French champion jockey Oliver Trigobet, Sapin ridden by J.B. Eyquem and another French horse Sabina ridden by A.de Vries, vied for the top spot. This trio gave some exciting moments to the public by fighting till the last minute. Sabina and Djinn started off as the first two favourites and were comfortably in the lead. The German-trained horse WFA Victor was also leading. However the French horses Djinn and Sabina were better, with just 450 metres away from the winning post. At one stage, Djinn jumped easily in front again on the outside followed by Iset La Belle and Sapin. Since all the three were in competition, the winner had to be found by a photo-finish. Iset La Belle was declared the winner and Djinn had to settle for the second place. Sapin bagged the third place. Run over a distance of 2,000 metres, the Derby attracted nine horses from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Russia, England and Ireland. The race carried a total amount of DM 60,000 as prize money with DM 30,000 for the first winner, DM 18,000 for the second and DM 6.900 for the third, DM 3,300 for the fourth and DM 1,800 for the fifth winner

- , Posted on 10 November 2001