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Arabian races return to Newbury Racecourse

DUBAI- The Dubai Summer Festival will see Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum extends his backing in support of Thoroughbred races at Newbury Racecourse over three days starting from Friday.

The new festival meeting will formally link traditional two-day July fixtures with the increasingly popular Dubai International Arabian Race Day.

Free admission and free gifts will be on offer for racegoers. The Dubai Summer Festival and the extended partnership with Shadwell provides an unprecedented opportunity to promote top class Thoroughbreds action alongside the best of Arabian racing, said Mirza Al Sayegh, director of the Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Office at an international news conference at the race venue on Tuesday.. “We are confident that the benefit for both disciplines will extend beyond the co-marketing initiatives and, in time, this meeting could pave the way for a fully integrated fixtures.

Themed family entertainments together with free prize draws to win luxury holidays to Dubai and a bran new car, combine to create a unique sporting an social event.

The profile of Arabian Racing which has risen considerably since the re-launch of the international Arabian Race Day at Newbury in 2003, its contribution to TB racing at grass roots level and the draw on Sunday’s free admission are also among the topics that might provide inspiration.

Exquisite jewellery sets designed in the United Arab Emirates and supplied specially for the event will be on offer for the winner and runners-up in the Best Dressed Lady competition, and games consoles will be among the prizes for the children in the Best Children’s Hat contest which traditionally draws very strong competition.

In the meantime, an ambitious art competition for primary schools, launched with a prize fund of GBP 3,500 to celebrate the first running of the Dubai Summer Festival has been given an unexpected prize money boost by the promoters.

The colourful camels’ competition challenges pupils in West Berkshire to create an innovative design to reflect the cultural associations and differences between the UK and UAE, and apply it to life sized sculpture of a camel, Arabian horse or falcon. The finished artworks will be displayed at the three-day festival. Judging will take place on Sunday when the racecourse plays host to the popular admission-free International Arabian Racing Day staged under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance.

Friday’s programme features the Listed Rose Bowl Stakes sponsored by Compton Beauchamp Estates Ltd, while the highlight on Saturday is the exciting £200,000 Weatherbys Super Sprint.

Gates open at 12 noon on Friday and Sunday, and at 11.30am on Saturday.

Prize money for the International Arabian Race Day on July 18, the third and final day of Newbury Racecourse’s Dubai Summer Festival has been boosted by the addition of an eighth race which will be sponsored by Meydan, the iconic home of the world’s richest horse race, the Dubai World Cup.

The Group-3 Shadwell Stakes and the Listed Shadwell Beech Stud Stakes will join the Weatherbys Super Sprint on a Saturday card now worth more than GBP 350,000. Shadwell will also be represented on Friay’s programme which features the Listed race Rose Bowl Stakes sponsored for the first time this year by Eric Penser’s Compton Beauchamp Estates company, by the Shadwell Nunnery Stud Conditions Stakes. A high profile marketing campaign designed to encourage greater affiliation between the Thoroughbred and Arabian cards have been launched in support of the meeting and will highlight the unique promotional aspects of Sunday’s International Arabian Race Day and Dubai themed activities on the first two days of the fixtures.

Meanwhile, a competition to reward journalistic excellence with GBP 20,000 prize fund has been launched to mark the inaugural three-ay Dubai Summer Festival.

In the meantime, an ambitious art competition for primary schools, has been renewed with a prize fund of GBP 3,500 to celebrate the second running of the Dubai Summer Festival has been given an unexpected prize money boost by the promoters.

The colourful camels’ competition challenges pupils in West Berkshire to create an innovative design to reflect the cultural associations and differences between the UK and UAE, and apply it to life sized sculpture of a camel, Arabian horse or falcon.

The finished artworks will be displayed at the three-day festival. Judging will take place on Sunday when the racecourse plays host to the popular admission-free International Arabian Racing Day staged under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan.

hisham@khaleejtimes.com