All set for Arabian Horse Championship

08 Feb 2007

Abu Dhabi: The sixth edition of the National Arabian Horse Championship starting today is expected to see about 100 horses vie for the Dh400,000 and six hummers and seven 4wds.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Khadim Abdullah Aldarei, Show Manager said the event was being held under the directives of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in grateful memory of the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

"It is more of getting the UAE peoples acquainted with this noble breed of Purebred Arabian horses and this event is being held under direct supervision and patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, and Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Presidential Affairs," Khadim said.

"This is the first time we will be staging this show on the race track and we are keen that more UAE nationals are there to take part in the event.

"The show will see the horses being judged by an international panel and they will be evaluated in different categories," he said.

The Class list for the 2007 championship is as follows: Class 1- for One-year old fillies, Class 2 for two-year old fillies and Class 3 for three-year-old fillies. Class 4 for mares between 4 to 7 years, Class 5 for mares between 8-12 years and Class 6 for mares 13v years and above; Class 7 for one-year old colts, Class 8 for 2 year old colts, Class 9 for 3 year-old colts, Class 10 for stallions 4-7 years, Class 11 for stallion 8-12 years and Class 12 for stallion 13 years and above.

Abdullah Juma Al Shamsi, Deputy General Manager, Abu Dhabi Region, etisalat said they were happy to be part of the event.

"Such shows are sure to encourage more UAE nationals to start owning and breeding the Arabian horse which is now getting back to its roots," he said.

Christine Jamar (Belgium), Bruce Mac Crea (Saudi Arabia), Willi Poth (Germany) and Marianne Tengstedt (Denmark) are the judges for the Championship which will be governed by the European Arab Horse Show Commission.

According to the judging system to applied, 20 marks each will be given for Type, Head & Neck, Body & Topline, Legs and Movement.

The competitions begin at 4.00 pm today and tomorrow at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club.