Twelve lady riders have been declared to battle it to the wire in the final leg of the HH Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship to be held at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club on November 11, 2012.
“The competition is no longer a battle for a Cup or a trophy to be presented at the end of every single race, but two lucky girls will drive home two brand new Mercedes Benz cars, over and above the Dh130,000 in prize-money to compete in a series of 10 rounds which culminates with the final leg in Abu Dhabi, where two lucky girls will drive home two brand new Mercedes Benz cars, over and above the Dh130,000 in prize-money which would be claimed by the winning lady jockey,” Lara Sawaya, director of the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Racing Festival and head of IFAHR Ladies Racing, said during a special news conference here on Saturday.
The Press briefing was attended by Sami Jassim Al Boenain, chairman of IFAHR; Nadim Lahad, manager, Emirates (Abu Dhabi and Al Ain); Aisha Al Marzuki, General Authority for Youth and Sports; and Stephen Bowey, executive director (Corporate Development) Invest AD, as well as Omani jockey Fatima Al Manji and Norwegian jockey Veronika Aske.
The nine winners of the previous nine rounds of the competition plus UAE representative Shathra Hajjaj along with two professional jockeys American Joy Scott and Australian Michelle Payne make up the field.
According to Sawaya, the draw ceremony will be held at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi on November 8.
“Under the directives of Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, the total prize-money has been increased from Euro 50,000 to Euro 62,000 and will be distributed among the winning clubs of the five top lady jockeys who have collected thehighest numbers of points throughout the nine rounds. The move aims at supporting the lady riders within the said racing clubs,” she clarified.
“UAE jockey Shathra Hajjaj is showing the way with 51 points, followed by the British and German riders with 50 points each as Sultanate of Oman comes fourth and France settled in the fifth place. “The winning club will walk away with Euro 25,000, while the second finishers will claim Euro12,500 each, Oman will receive Euro 7, 000 and Euro 5,000 goes to France,” she confirmed.
“All the 108 lady jockeys who took part in the previous rounds will be invited to attend the final day, and a lucky lady will drive home a brand new Mercedes which will be drawn by the end of the big night,” she confirmed.
Regarding next year’s calendar, Sawaya said two races have been added in San Francisco and Huston to increase the number of the rounds from 10 to 12.
“The season’s campaign will kick off from Muscat in January. Twelve riders from the UAE, Oman and Qatar will be invited to take part in the inaugural edition of the HH Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak EARS Apprentice Jockeys Race which carries a total purse of Dh60,000 and will be held concurrently with the HH Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak EARS (European Association Racing Schools) Conference on Education and Training in Abu Dhabi from November 2013,” she said.
