Nayef Al Khalidiah sprints to the finish line. The Al Khalidiah Stables that dominated last year\'s Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Racing Festival opened their account when Nayef Al Khalidiah won the Prix Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Carthage-Hanibal Cup (Group-2) race at the Hippodrome De Toulouse in France on Friday night.
The Jean Francois Bernard-trained Nayef Al Khalidiah under David Michaux started in a strong field with stablemate Jalab Al Khalidiah and Rami also in the line-up. But once the six-year-old son of Calin Du Loup hit the front there was no stopping the Saudi raider who had finished fourth here last year to Soubidou De Carrere. \"Everyone here fancied Jalab Al Khalidiah but Nayef ran very well,\" said Bernard.
Nayef Al Khalidiah had won the HH The President of the UAE Cup (UK Derby) in Ascot last year.
Hilal Al Zaman finished second and Poulain Kossach was third with favourite Rami running into fifth place.
Big crowd
According to a press release, the festival attracted a big crowd with the UAE Ambassador to France, Mohammad Mir Abdullah Al Raisi and members of the UAE embassy in Paris attending the race and the prize distribution ceremony. \"We are truly delighted with this campaign which did not promote the Arabian horse alone, but it has also promoted the cultural image of the UAE. It\'s a great effort which deserves all respect and backing,\" the UAE envoy said.
Lara Sawaya, director of the Festival said: \"Our presence for [the] third time in France and the second time in Toulouse is a strong evidence that we are doing well and very close to our objectives, if not have already achieved them.\" Yves Plantin, chairman of the French Arabian Racing Association, said Purebred Arabian races in France were getting stronger and will continue to attract top runners from around the country and Europe. \"Considering the quality of runners and the ever increasing prize-money of this prestigious event, I think the time has come to give Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Prix Carthage-Hanibal (Group 2) a Group-1 status,\" he said.
\"We have 75 Arabian races in France with 17 of them staged in Toulouse. Arabian races are very popular in this part of our country. More than 90 per cent of the Arabian horse breeding in France is in the South West and 12 per cent is in Toulouse. France produce the best bred Arabians and the winner of this year\'s Dubai Kahayla Classic Group-1 on the Dubai World Cup night was Seraphin Du Paon, a French-bred horse,\" he pointed out.