News From BELGIUM

The Arabian Horse Racing Club of Belgium

ARAB HORSE RACING IN BELGIUM by Nelly Philippot , President AHRCB Despite Belgium has a long tradition of thoroughbred

ARAB HORSE RACING IN BELGIUM by Nelly Philippot , President AHRCB Despite Belgium has a long tradition of thoroughbred (TB) flat and jumping racing, races with purebred Arabs are a rather recent venture. After several aborted attempts by enthusiastic Arab horse breeders to start this alternative competition for Arab horses, it was only with the assiduous efforts of Nicole CARLIN that it all started seriously. The major barrier being recognition by the TB-world and acceptance by the Jockey Club, it needed the help of “insiders” to successfully negotiate this fence. Nicole managed to contaminate two of her friends: Béla Hardy-Dreher ( a life-long TB-owner and Jockey Club Steward) and Michel Puissant ( later to become the General Secretary of the Belgian Jockey Club ) with the initial stage of “Arabitis”. Alex Cloosterin , Chief Clerk of the J.C. was also willing to cooperate. The contribution of these four persons to the proper start of Arab horse racing in Belgium cannot be overemphasised. During the earlier years ( late eighties) only a handful of races were organised yearly and it was essentially owner-trainers that entered their “back-yard” Arabs in a rather amateurish way. The finishes were seldom very exciting and the occasional “good horse” won easily over his peers even with 70 kg aboard !! Approximately ten horses were in training and a close cooperation with Holland (Robbie den Hartogh sr.) was necessary to fill the races, but the atmosphere was one of sheer enthusiasm and all horses in training were entered in each of the races with disregard of adequacy of the distance to be run and the conditions of the race….. The more successful horses ( e.g. Madad, Hassan Bukari, Plajad …) were occasionally entered abroad just to disappoint their owners ! Some participants therefore realised that racing was a different sport than showing and that it might need different horses to go for it, resulting in a couple of imports, a.o. from Poland and Tunisia. In ’94 the Arabian Horse Racing Club of Belgium ( AHRCB, asbl.) was fully accepted by the Jockey Club and officially recognised ( august ’94) as a non-lucrative association (publication of the “Statutes” in the Belgian “Moniteur”: chairman: Nicole Carlin and Vice-Chairman: Nelly Philippot). Two years later Nicole had to leave the field after 6 years of service because of her increased professional duty’s and Nelly PHILIPPOT took over the challenge to further develop the Arab races in Belgium Around that time, notice of the Belgian races was taken in France and whenever a French horse came to participate … it won ! Consequently a) we were put under pressure by the members to work out conditions to avoid the French horses from winning ….and b) the TB-people jaleoused us for the occasional presence of the famous French jockey Thierry Jarnet. Participation of horses trained in Germany, England , Scandinavia and even Russia also contributed to the increased consideration of Arab races by the TB-world, leading to smooth cooperation with BELGALOP, although some TB-addicts continue till now to call them “pony-races”…. Pony-races maybe, but we had an increasing number of exciting races with frequent photo-finishes !!! As we have by now over 35 horses in training and 23 races this season, conditions of the races can be more selective and each race concerns only a part of the horses. Currently we usually stage 2 Arab races every fortnight during a TB-race-meeting : in the beginning of the season one race for experienced horses and one for less-confirmed horses. Distances will combine either one sprint ( 1.000 to 1.400m) + one classic race ( 1900 to 2.400m) on the same day, either one medium ( 1500 to 1800m ) + one “stayers” distance ( 2.500 to 3.700m), giving every horse at least once a month a chance to start . Later in the season one of the races will be for 3-year olds and the other one for 4-year olds and over …. Thanks to generous sponsors , especially the U.A.E. Equestrian and Racing Federation and the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, the purses of the races increased steadily and since 2001 , 3 of our races have obtained the Group 3 – status. Obviously the high standard of our races , them being probably the most international races of Europe with participants from over 14 countries (Bahrain, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, …), make the Belgian races very appreciated and the number of starters reached 16 twice this season !! Belgian breeders have started in due time to use French sires and the first generation of these Belgian-born half-French racing-machines have proven very successful indeed: IRCALAN D.A. ( Djelbon x Alissah (B)) won this year at one week interval the Danish AND the Dutch leg of the ABU DHABI 3-year old Championship , to the delight of his breeder, owner and trainer Johan Verstrepen, 2000, 2001and 2002 “Breeder of the Year”. As well the “Horse of the Year”: JAMAA DU BREUIL belonging to Wiljan Poels, as the 4 horses of the “Owner of the year”: Huub OTERMANS (Paradox T, Arc Kossack; Salazar Kossack and Voile Kossack) and the 3 horses contributing to the successes of the “Trainer of the year”: Robert VAN DE WALLE (Jamaa du Breuil, Kif Poyaudin and Jawad de l’Ardus) have French sires !

- Nelly Philippot , Posted on 14 April 2003