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Following in their mother’s footsteps

Merzal, Thaaniya and Rabbah De Carrere are three yearlings of Purebred Arabian racing legend Mizzna. They all train at the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed-owned Al Wathba Stud Farm in France.

The two fillies — Merzal and Thaaniya — are full sisters to Rabbah De Carrere from the famous sire Bibi de Carrere.

“The three children may race against their mother if the brilliant mare continues training for the next two years,” noted Emanuel Bodard, breeding manager of the La Boutonniere-based stud.

“The farm houses top stallions including Mahabb along with his sire Tahar De Candelon in addition to Munjiz, Sire D’Albert, Mawood, Quazar and Sarrab. All of the stallions have made their presence felt in the track before they were retired to stud,” he said.

Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, has been breeding from this farm in the last 12 years but is never selling the crop.

“In the case of Mizzna, the mare was inseminated in Abu Dhabi, but some of our operations here are through natural covering. We have as many as 19 broodmares like Aleefa, Canelle De Carrere, Demokratia, Djezika etc and plenty of them came from a strong racing background with well proven records,” he said.

“Horses are bred here for racing and various futurities. Artificial insemination is used at the farm through different methods and techniques. This involves the deposit of raw fresh or frozen semen,” he said.

Right now there are 16 yearlings in the 180-acre farm receiving the highest level of attention and care from the well-trained staff. This is in addition to six two-year-olds and nine pre-training two-year-olds.

There are also two tracks for the horses to stretch their legs in, the All Weather and turf tracks.

Maraam, is the only pre-training three-year-old filly which was also born in the farm by Njewman from Ishem de I’ Ardus. The two pre-training four-year-old colts are Rajwan by Tidjani from Dixie Lilly and Rabaae by TC Tomtyr from Refleksja.

The rest of the horses in the farm include Rayaan, a nine-year-old mare by Kesberoy, Dariya a six-year-old son of Dormane, Harb by Kerbella and the gelded son of Tidjani from Vermeille.

Speaking about the market prospects, Emanuel said it’s very promising in this part of the world.

“There’s increasing interest in the Arabian horses and the market is growing rapidly. The number of races for Purebred Arabian horses is on the rise,” he said.

“The fees are reasonable and varying from one stallion to another. For Munjiz and Mahabb, we charge Euro 2500 for live foal towards the caring and insemination costs. But the amount is less for Sire D’Albert which is fixed at Euro1200 for live foal against caring and insemination,” he clarified.

Profile: Mahabb: Five wins and three places in eight starts at the age of four and five years old in France and England with total earnings of $41.071

First Dam sprinter champion Joyzeel unbeaten in 29 starts in US and UAE, and Sire Tahar De Candelon, a winner in six races and one place from seven starts including four Gr-1 races in UAE varying from 1600m to 2400m.

Munjiz: One win and three places at the age of four-year-old including the Prix du President des Eau (Gr-1) at Deauville

First Dam: The Greatest of Champions Unchained Melody (Alanudd). Seven wins in seven races Gr-1, Gr-2 and Gr-3 in US.

Thirty wins and one place in 31 races in UAE.

Best rating ever registered: Dirt 140; Turf 140.