Ambrose sprints to victory

NEWBURY — Top weight Ambrose, ridden by Simon Walker, made virtually all to land the seventh leg of the Wathba Stud Farm Cup Series UK Breeders Cup at the Newbury Racecourse here on Thursday.

By Hisham Al Gizouli

• Follow us on
• 
• 
• 

Published: Sat 11 Jun 2011, 11:11 PM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 8:43 AM

The seven-year-old son of Amer broke well to settle nicely behind the early speed and made a smooth progress to take the small field in a very good trip before he kicked clear to sprint home unchallenged in the concluding stages of the race.

The race drew a quality field of British-Bred Arabians who went to post for what has been viewed as an addition to the UK Race Calendar. Most of the participants were smart winning handicappers like Katwalkm S Harrison, and Whisper in addition to high class maidens Verdora and Ambrose.

The Wathba Stud Farm Cup series are held as part of the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival, organised by Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), in association with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and in coordination with Emirates Arabian Horse Society.

However, the only Purebred Arabian event of the busy afternoon kicked off the otherwise All-Thoroughbreds eight-race card. According to Antonia Newman, racing manager at the Newbury Racecourse, the future of the Arabian races in Europe is very bright.

“It’s for the first time betting on Arabian races is now open in the betting shops all over UK and the details of the Arabian horses are published besides the Thoroughbreds by leading specialised magazines and newspapers to which racegoers have direct access. We will also be launching a full Purebred Arabian racing day during the Dubai International Racing Festival on July 19,” she said. Meanwhile, the race was shown live on Racing UK and Abu Dhabi Sports Channel.

UAE ambassador to UK, Abdul Rahman Ghanim Al Mutawai, said: “We are truly delighted to see the great initiatives of our wise leaders to promote the Arabian horse around the globe hit the highest levels of success. Late Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan has shown the way and put the corner stone of this successful campaign and his brilliant idea is now paying dividends. We have reached people who didn’t know too much about us and they are right now well aware of our nation, identity, culture, history and heritage,” he said.

Winning owner Mrs. Jane Haddock said she’s pleased to see her horse striking on seasonal debut which is something great.

“We will send him to race during the Dubai International Arabian Racing Festival next month. He won very easily. I hope he will improve further over present form,” she said. “I would like to thank Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan for the exciting festival which provided a big boost for small Arabian horse breeders and owners in Europe,” she added.

Regarding her future plans to expand her breeding operation, Mrs. Haddock said she’s not taking it as a business.

“I do it as a hobby not as business. I have limited number of mares and stallions. I do not use more than two mares in breeding at a time,” she said.

Lara Sawaya, director of the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival, said: “Shaikh Mansour’s festival has become a great success story and we have seen the support and recognition the Arabian horse has gained in Europe and elsewhere.”

“Purebred Arabian races are getting stronger and will continue to attract top runners from around Europe,” she added.