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Belgian jockey Clijmans wins Wathba race in the Netherlands

Clijman on Hurra denied the festival’s highly successful trainer Miss Karin van den Bos whose Sia under Anna van den Troost finished second while Derham under Cindy Klinkenberg ran into third place.

Hurra, ridden by Belgian jockey Koen Clijmans, powers to victory. — Supplied photo

Belgian jockey Koen Clijmans struck on Hurra to give trainer Roof Dorenburg a classy win in the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival’s Wathba Stud farm Cup series in Duindigt, The Netherlands on Sunday.

Hurra, sixth behind Speed Kossack in the second Wathba Stud Farm Cup race held here on May 14 over 2150 meters, looked spot on for Sunday’s race run over 1800meters.

Clijman on Hurra denied the festival’s highly successful trainer Miss Karin van den Bos whose Sia under Anna van den Troost finished second while Derham under Cindy Klinkenberg ran into third place.

Sunday’s race was the third of the five races of the Wathba Stud Farm Cup scheduled to be held in The Netherlands by the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival.

These races are aimed at promoting Purebred Arabian racing at the grass roots level and have been a huge success over the recent years.

Margaret de Ruiter, a top Dutch owner of Purebred Arabian horses, gave away the trophies to the winners. “We are thankful to Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, for this Wathba Stud farm Cup series which helps the small owners to continue with Purebred Arabian horse racing,” de Ruiter said.

“For us in the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, the Wathba Stud Farm Cup series is very important and this is the third race here in The Netherlands. Apart from here we will also stage the Wathba Stud farm Cup races this year in Abu Dhabi, Belgium, France, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the US,” said Lara Sawaya, executive director of Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival and chairman of Ladies Racing at the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR).