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Pyse emerges triumphant

DUBAI - Pyse, ridden by O Samokhna sprinted home to claim the third leg of the 2000m HH the President of the UAE Cup (Group-3) for Purebred Arabian horses at Moscow Hippodrome on Sunday. The winner walked away with R750,000 prize-money.

The brilliant Arabian raider made virtually all and stormed home unchallenged to win by eight lengths before being eased near post.

The series of the President Cup are organised under the supervision of Shaikh Dr Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Chairman of the UAE Equestrian & Racing Federation in Europe and the United States with the support of Etihad Airways. Pyse covered the distance in 2,31,20 seconds.

Meanwhile, the Gr-3 race over 2400m has attracted competative field of quality horses from Russia, Italy, KSA, Qatar and UAE lining up for the Euro 15,000 prizemoney.

Pagur, A Krishan up, began well while Duglik was a little slow to go as the horses left the stalls in the early stages of the race. But, he responded keenly when asked the question by jockey s. dzilikhov and tracked the winner with less than 400m to go. Unfortunately, Duglik was only unlucky to lose by a half a lebgth when the two horses went strike for strike before they cross the finish line. The winner covered the 2000m distance in 2:34:30 seconds.

Ali Al Nuaimi, UAE charge d’affairs to Moscow, Taleb Al Muhairi, secretary general of the Emirates Equestrian Federation and Abdul Rahman Al Mazami, the UAE military attaché gave away the prizes and trophies to the winners of the exciting race.

The UAE charge d’affairs thanked His Highness the President Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Lt. General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Shaikh Dr Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Chairman of the UAE Equestrian & Racing Federation for their strong support to promote the Purebred Arabian horse in Europe and elsewhere. “It’s a national pride for us to see the flag of the UAE flying in the skies of Europe. The series of the President Cup for Purebred Arabian horses have positively contributed to the promotion of the image of this noble creature. It’s not a matter of a beautiful horse which is acquired for its beauty and stamina alone, but it has the qualities and speed of a racing horse,” he said.

Al Nuaimi noted that most of the European-based Purebred Arabian horses take part in the series and the owners, trainers and jockeys have the strong feeling that very soon the Purebred Arabian horse will become a major player in the racing community.

The same opinion was echoed by the Kuwaiti ambassador to Moscow Nasser Al Muzain who attended the race. “We are all proud by the UAE move to carry the image of the Purebred Arabian horse to the highest heights,” he said.

The Bahraini charge d’affairs Ahmed Al Hajiri congratulated His Highness the President Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for introducing the Arabian horse to the world. “This is part of our history, culture and civilization and we are too much proud to see this effort paying dividends,” he said.

hisham@khaleejtimes.com