DUBAI — The organising committee of the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival announced that Poland would stage the Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup. This will be the first time that Poland will play host to a race for lady jockeys, a press release said.

Lara Sawaya, Director of Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival, made the announcement at a press conference at the Sluzewiec racecourse in Warsaw, Poland ahead of Sunday’s Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival’s Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Group 3) race.

“This is the second year in running that the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival is staging the Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Group 3) race here and we are happy to announce that the prestigious Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup will be held in Poland next year. The venue for this first-ever race for lady jockeys in Poland will be announced here during Sunday’s Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Group 3) race,” said Sawaya.

“Poland will join six other countries which will be staging Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup races for the first time ever and this is expected to be a huge boost for the women jockeys all around the world. We have already staged one Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup race in Duindigt, The Netherlands this year and this will be followed by another race in Abu Dhabi on November 6, 2011,” she said.

“The Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies Fegentri Cup will carry a prize purse of Euros 20,000 and will be the richest race in Poland for amateur lady jockeys who are allowed to take part in the Ladies Fegentri Cup races. The Poland race will be one of the eight races that are on the anvil for the year 2012 and reflects the tremendous support for women sport and women issues extended by Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak,” Sawaya said.