Youssef Moutmaine
May 06, 2024 At 3:15 p.m.
Organized by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Horse (SOREC) and the His Highness Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Festival, the Marrakech stage still offered five prestigious races, including 3 major Prizes: the HH Sheikha Fatma Bint Mubarak Prize, the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Grand Prix and the Wathba Stallion Cup Prize, in addition to the Al Haouz Prize and the Ryad Laarouss Prize. This weekend’s major attraction, the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Grand Prix, was therefore dominated by the famous jockey Khalid Ibbawhich imposed itself on Mamouni Fal (from owner and trainer Taleb Rabia). He thus left with a Prize Money of 144,000 DH, knowing that the GP was endowed with a total sum of 320,000 DH. The HH Sheikha Fatma Bint Mubarak Prize went to Ichi Bouaroua and his horse Zarak Maamora, owned by M’hamed Hamidou who is also the trainer. The Wathba Stallion Cup Prize finally smiled on Omar Lakjal on Weld Zinat (owned by Atlas Stud, coached by Mohamed El Mourtaki).
During the 2023 edition, jockey Ayoub Rayi and the horse “Lamine Bouznika”, trained by its owner Hassan Ajghough, won the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Grand Prix, who also had 11 horses competing over a distance of 1,900 meters. The HH Sheikha Fatma Bint Mubarak Prize went to the horse “Nour Hady” (owned by Zakaria Hakam) and the jockey Zouhair Madihi. The duo Khalid Ibba and “Fal Mamouni” (owned by Rabia Taleb) won the Wathba Stallion Cup Prize. Launched in 2009, the Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Festival of Thoroughbred Arabian Horse Racing is organized in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage Authority and the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
