Ploiesti/Waregem
Lagarde and Freddie were crowned champions of the Wathba Stallions Cup races, which took place on the evening of June 25th, 2023, at the Ploiesti racetrack in Bucharest, Romania, and the Waregem racetrack in Brussels, Belgium. The races were held under the patronage of the 15th edition of Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival.
The Festival is supported by Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President of UAE, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of the Presidential Court, with the aim of promoting and encouraging owners and breeders from around the world to take an interest in purebred Arabian horses, in line with the Festival’s strategic objectives.
The grassy racetrack of Ploiesti in Bucharest hosted the inaugural €5,000 Wathba Stallions Cup race, featuring eight Arabian horses aged four years and above, racing a distance of 1,700m.
The race was intense and challenging. Jut de Lagarde, owned by Bulgarian Christo Stoyanov Histov, trained by Ivan Georgiev Ivanov, and ridden by Atansov Valentin, dominated the 1,700m race, finishing comfortably ahead of the runner-up, Hermes Douaywale, owned by Ivan Dimitrov, trained by Emin Mohammed and ridden by Aref Asinov.
Jut de Lagarde completed the race in 1:51:60 minutes, securing the first position. The third position was secured by Alban, ridden by Lukov Dobrin, trained by Emin Mohammed, and owned by Ivan Yurdanov Dimitrov.
In a similar context, nine purebred Arabian horses, aged four years and above, competed at the Belgian Waregem racetrack for the Wathba Stallions Summer Endurance Cup title over a distance of 2300m, to win a prize of €5,000.
Freddie Bay, owned and trained by JT Zotliff and ridden by Stefan Helen, won the title with a time of 2:32:24 minutes, finishing 1.5 lengths ahead of Al-Zarka, owned and trained by Dutch trainer Johan Versterbeen and ridden by Queen Clemens with a time of 2:32:24 minutes. Tex, owned and trained by Johan Versterbeen, and ridden by Seb Balkin, came in third place.
The Festival features several prestigious events, including Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s Jewel Crown races, the Zayed Cup, the Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Cup, the Wathba Stallions Cup, and the World Arabian Horse Racing Forum.
The 15th edition of the global Festival began on January 11th, 2023, with new races added to this year’s edition. The Festival will feature 152 local and international races across the globe, including races that have been upgraded to classified categories such as races for Category One, Category Two, and Category Three.
The Festival is supported and sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, the National Library and Archives as the lead partner, Mubadala as an official partner, National Feed and Flour as a strategic partner, Emirates Airline as the official airline, and Etisalat as an official partner.
Al Masaood Automobiles Nissan, Areej Al Ameerat, Omeir Bin Youssef Travels, Yas TV, the General Women’s Union, Viola Communications, the Emirates Arabian Horse Society, Emirates International Endurance Village, and the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club are also sponsors.