News From HOLLAND

The Dutch Arabian Racing Committee

The Dubai International Arabian Races (DIAR) run under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, returned for a second year to support 4 Arabian races at Duindigt Racecourse (Holland) on Sunday 12th June. The races were organised by and run in association with the Dutch Arabian Racing Committee (DARC).

The races included 2 Listed contests and a much needed sprint race which attracted runners from across Europe including Belgium, France and the UK. The meeting also attracted top jockeys for Arabian horses, headlined by Richie Mullen and Tadhg O’Shea who rode HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s only runner ZAAHY to 4th place in the DIAR 2016 Sprint Stakes.
The first race on the card the DIAR 2016 Sprint Stakes over 1300m was won by SHEIMAH QARDABIYAH by an impressive margin. Trainer Kim Augenbroe commented after the race: “We were really pleased to have this race supported by DIAR as it is very difficult to find suitable sprint races for Arabian horses these days. The filly will head to the Jebel Ali Racecourse Zaabeel International Stakes (Gr.1 PA) at Newbury and we hope we might be able to bring another horse with her too.”

The No Risk Al Maury Stakes (1800m) was won by FAJR QARDABIYAH, trained by Karin van den Bos who trained SAMIMA to win at this meeting in 2015. The 4 year old by Dormane was ridden by Richard Mullen to a convincing 4 length victory over the field of 9 with PETRUSCHKA and SHIVAN OA taking up the rest of the major placings.

The first of the 2 Listed events was the Shadwell Arabian Stallions Stakes (Listed PA). Won by the smart globe-trotter MAJEED for HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani and trained by M. De Mieulle; Karin van den Bos backed up her win earlier in the afternoon by also saddling the second and third horses home: ATHLETE DEL SOL and ALIBABA DEL SOL.

The second and final Listed contest of the day was the Dubai International Arabian Races Stakes run over 1800m. This race carried the biggest prize pot of the day of €26,500 and provided the closes and most exciting finish of the day. After deliberation from the stewards DJELAMER was awarded the race on the strength of a photo finish, giving trainer A De Mieulle and jockey Gaetan Faucon a double on the day and justifying the journey from France! Unfortunately, it meant that Karin van den Bos narrowly missed out on her second win of the day as LIGHTNING BOLT had to settle for second and RAYA C made up the first trio home.

In total the DIAR supported races attracted 32 declared runners competing for a total of €68,500 in prize money. The day was also supported by a delegation from the UAE Embassy in The Hague lead by Second Secretary Ms Mariam Alshamsi. Their guests included Ambassadors to The Netherlands from India, Saudi Arabia and Egypt among others.

Also in attendance were representatives from the Al Maktoum Foundation in Rotterdam lead by Managing Director Jacob van der Blom – the Al Maktoum Foundation is the charitable trust of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum and works on cultural and educational projects in the region.

Full results for the DIAR races can be found at: www.ndr.nl/?p=uitslagen (click on 12-06-16 Duindigt) with replays of all races available on You Tube via the DIAR Twitter feed: @DIA_Races.

For more information about the Dubai International Arabian Races please visit: www.diaraces.com

- , Posted on 14 June 2016
- Visit Link 1 http://www.ndr.nl/?p=uitslagen - Visit Link 2 http://www.diaraces.com