DUBAI — Trainer Helen Shelley saw both her horses So Big Is Better and Qjuick Sand PW finish first and second in California’s inaugural Wathba Stud Farm Cup race held at the Pleasonton race course on Saturday.
It was the first race in the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival’s Wathba Stud Farm Cup race series and So Big Is Better registered a comfortable win with James Wooter Jr. the winning jockey.

Qjuick Sand PW, ridden by Chris Russell, tried to fight it our but his stablemate was too good and won the 1200-metre race in 1:17.99 on the dirt race course.

Tyler Kaplain steered Velite Star to third place in the 7-horse race which was watched by a large crowd as the race was part of the famous Alameda County fair.

“I am very happy and the same two horses won two weeks ago in the same manner. I want to run my horses in the Wathba Stud Farm Cup series to encourage and support Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, in all the races here in California,” said Helen Shelley.

Lara Sawaya, Director of the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival, Abdul Rahman Al Jaber, Diplomatic Attache at the UAE Embassy in Washington DC, gave away the trophies to the winning owner, trainer and jockey. “The atmosphere here at Pleasonton is so great and has been a great way to see the Wathba Stud Farm Cup make a debut here in the state of California. We also gave a Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup for the owners as part of the promotion for the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival which will return in a big way to Pleasanton next year,” said Sawaya.

“We will be staging the Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup, with a prize money of US $20,000, next year,” she added.

Abdulrahman Al Jaber, Diplomatic Attache at the UAE Embassy in Washington DC, said: “After the success of Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival races in Delaware and Houston this is a great step to start in California. We thank Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, for his support and such events will boost Arabian Racing in the US.”

The Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival is organised by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) and its Wathba Stud Farm Cup races are staged with support from Invest AD, Areej Al Ameerat, La Sirene, the UAE’s General Women’s Union, Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2011, Wathba Stud Farm and Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club.