Grard scripts French victory

It was another French triumph in the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival's Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship (IFAHR) race.

It was another French triumph in the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival's Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship (IFAHR) race held at the Casablanca-Anfa Racecourse in Morocco on Friday.
In a powerful finish, Ingrid Grard on Charmsper won the 1900-metre contest with home favourite Moroccan Bouchra Marmoul on Maysan Maamora battling to second place while further behind in third and fourth places were Australia's professional Linda Meech on Djourman BS and Omani Azher Al Wardi on Cherguy respectively.
It was a second successive win by a French lady jockey after French professional Justin Mercier steered Yakout Al Boraq home in the 2015 running of the Ladies Championship race. In a superb contest it was Al Wardi on Cherguy who led for most of the race but Grard on Charmsper was just off the pace along with top weight Said Dam under Austria's Hana Jurankova.
Just before the final bend Grard brought Charmsper to the front with Al Wardi's mount Cherguy tiring. However, the large crowd erupted in cheers as local girl Marmoul on Maysan Maamora joined the front-runners and for a while it looked like a two-horse battle. But in the final furlong the Ahmed Bentounshi-owned Charmsper had enough in reserve to power home under the French jockey.
After winning by over three lengths and in a time of 2 minutes 15.08 seconds for the 1900-metre distance, Grard said she was delighted with her success. "It was a tough race and we had to be tactically correct. Fortunately my horse showed a lot of pace when it mattered most and finished very well," said Grard. "This is such a great race series and I am excited that I will be in the starting line-up for the Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship (IFAHR) finale in Abu Dhabi in November," said the winner who has been a regular participant in the series.
Suhail Mattar Al Ketbi, UAE Ambassador to Morocco; Adnan Sultan Al Nuaimi, ADEC Director General; Musallam Al Amri, chief of Al Jazeera Stables; and Lara Sawaya, executive director of the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, chairperson of the International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA), chairperson of Ladies & Apprentice Racing Committees in the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR), distributed the trophies to the winners of the race which carried a prize fund of ?30,000."This is such a great event and I thank Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Her Highness Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, Supreme President of the Family Development Foundation, and Head of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, for bring this event to Morocco," said Al Ketbi.