Dubai: Arabian horse racing in the United States, which started as an organised sport in the late 1950s, has seen a steady growth, but like all other equestrian sport did take a hit due to the recent economic recession.

There are over half a dozen organisations focused on promoting Purebred Arabian racing in the US and the Arabian Jockey Club, a nationally chartered non-profit organisation is one such pioneering the cause of Arabian racing.

Kathryn Smoke, the president of the Arabian Jockey Club (AJC) told Gulf News during the Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Racing Festival’s Shaikh Zayed Cup race in Delaware earlier this month that the AJC was dedicated to the promotion and education of the Arabian racing industry in the United States.

In a country where horse racing is a huge industry, Smoke said the recent support for Arabian racing from the UAE has been a huge boost as the acceptance of Arabian horse into the racing world has been positive and gaining ground swiftly.

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Following are excerpts from the interview with the AJC president:

Gulf News: Can you briefly sum up the mission of the Arabian Jockey Club?

Kathryn Smoke: “The AJC’s biggest mission is to educate and promote Arabian horse racing on a national basis and also on an international level where the opportunity is and we have been working tirelessly towards this.”

There is a lot of Arabian racing in the US and how do you think it has progressed over the years?

Since 1950s they have been racing here in the US though the Arabian horse has been a source of great pride much, much before that. The Arabian racing, I can safely say, have made their mark alongside Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses and other breeds and in the last decade competitive Arabian racehorses at major racetracks across the country have proven to be a huge draw.

What is the current status of Arabian Racing in the US?

As you are aware of, we are fighting a real hardy economy and as you will know we have been doing so for ten years in this economy. It is just not the Arabian horses we are talking about, every racing horse and every breed has been hit. I think in order to grow we have to level off, ensure we are not back sliding.

Over the last two years there has been support from the UAE, how has this helped?

Like I told you, the horseracing industry is going through a tough phase. And we haven’t been making the required headway until we started getting the sponsorship from the UAE for Arabian racing. When Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs through the Festival brought the Shaikh Zayed Cup race here (in Delaware) last year, it just opened a door and it has just continued to grow.

How has the response been from owners and breeders in the US?

What the AJC and the Shaikh Mansour Festival is doing is a beautiful partnership because we are both trying to educate the people of the world what a fabulous horse we have. This horse is from the Arabian Peninsula and we all speak such a universal language. I don’t think we could have gotten this far this fast without the support of the UAE.

Apart from the Shaikh Mansour Festival and the President of the UAE Cup series the latest addition is the H.H. Shaikha Fatma Bint Mubarak Ladies

Fegentri Cup.

How do you see this new race in the US?

We could not have been more delighted with this latest development through which we will see the first H.H. Shaikha Fatma Bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup being held in Houston next year. Houston made its debut this year and next year it will be a huge advertisement for Arabian racing when the UAE race day is held. For the H.H. Shaikha Fatma Bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup to come in and help the women out, it is just like the icing on the cake.