All eyes on UAE’s al-Mazrouei

Duindigt - Arab TodayAfter the superb win by U.A.E. Apprentice jockey Ahmed Al Subose in Tarbes, France last week, all eyes will be on another U.A.E. Apprentice Saeed Al Mazrouei in Sunday's penultimate race of the HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival's HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship (IFAHR) to be held at the Duindigt racecourse in The Netherlands.
In his fourth season as an apprentice, Al Mazrouei has 22 wins under his belt and will be riding the CJM Wolters-trained Derham. The grey cold by Amer has had two second-placed finishes this season and will need to improve on that to better some fancied rivals.
The Diana Dorenburg-trained Hurra and the Gillian Duffield-trained Munya Farah appeal the most in a small but quality field for the turf contest over 1900 metres with a prize fund of Euros 22,000 on offer.
Spain's Jaime Gelabert Bautista, who finished fifth on Ainhoa Madjanis in the recently concluded third leg of the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship (IFAHR) in Tarbes, France last Sunday, gets the ride on Hurra. Hurra won the Qatar NEAR Elite Arabian Derby on August 3 and prior to that also won the HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival's Wathba Stud Farm Cup 3 race at the same course in Duindigt.
The Duffield-trained Munya Farah, a winner of the Wathba Stud Farm Cup Premier Stakes in Newbury last year, finished fourth to Udjess de Bouzouls in the Festival's Euros 30,000 HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race on June 22. The drop in class could suit the Munjiz filly that will be ridden by Malaysian Apprentice Amirul Adli Ismadi.
Dorenburg also saddles Nabukko to be ridden by Irish Apprentice Josh Doyle, Fareedha to be ridden by Czech Republic's Simona Molkova and Jimmy des Cedres under Hector Crouch from Great Britain.
Germany's Bayarsaikhan Ganbat, who finished third in last year's HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship (IFAHR) finale in Abu Dhabi, will be looking to once again clinch a berth in this year's final to be ruin on November 9 in Abu Dhabi. With 96 wins under his belt, Ganbat will be hoping for a winning debut from Astarte da Bonorva.
Sunday's winner will join the previous three winners at Sacramento, Newbury and Tarbes and will be joined by ten other Apprentice Jockeys for the grand finale of the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship (IFAHR) series which was unveiled by the HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival this year.
"We are extremely delighted to be staging this race, which aims to boost Apprentice jockeys, here in The Netherlands. With this event, we will have the proud privilege of having staged races of all the four series organised by the HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival — the other three being the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup series, the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship IFAHR series and the Wathba Stud Farm Cup series,” said Wieger Joost de Ruiter, IFAHR Treasurer and Chairman of the Dutch Arabian Racing Committee.
Source: Khaleej Times