The Arabian Racing Organisation (ARO) warmly welcomed the announcement from the Dubai International Arabian Races (DIAR) Committee regarding the increased investment in the DIAR programme for 2020. Five of the eight races at DIAR on July 26 at Newbury racecourse will receive an increase in prize money, which brings the total value of the card to £212,500.
The most significant increase of £10,000 is to the feature race, the Shadwell Dubai International Stakes (Gr1PA), which now has a prize fund of £68,000. The 1m2f contest has been won by many of the world’s most successful Arabian horses, including Bengali D’Albret, Dormane, No Risk Al Maury and more recently Gazwan and Muraaqib. The Shadwell Arabian Stallions Hatta International Stakes (Gr1PA) is also run over 1m2f and has been boosted by £5,000 to £40,000. Exclusively for fillies and mares, the race also has an impressive list of multiple Gr1PA past winners which includes Sylvine Al Maury and Djainka Des Forges.
The DIAR International Stakes (Gr3PA) will now be worth £26,500; run over 7f it is for three-year-olds only. The form of the race was recently enhanced by the Gr1PA victory of the 2019 winner, Methgal, who became the first horse since Manark to progress to top level success.
Also in receipt of additional funds is the UAE Embassy in London International Stakes (+ £2,000) and the Emirates NBD Handicap Stakes (+£1000). The renewal of the travel allowances for international runners at DIAR on July 26 and the DIAR bonus fund has already been confirmed with further details to follow.
Genny Haynes, ARO Commercial and Finance Director, commented: “We are thrilled that the DIAR Committee has boosted the prize money for DIAR 2020 by over £19,000 and we also recognise the importance of the increased support for the DIAR races in Italy and France. The success of DIAR 2019 and the prep race series was evident in the number of entries received and in particular, the significant increase in international horses declared. It confirms the growing appetite for international Arabian racing at the highest level, which we at ARO are delighted to encourage as it is part of our patron HH Sheikh Hamdan’s vision for the day.
“DIAR consistently produces competitive racing of the highest quality at all levels, a fact acknowledged by the prize money increase not only to our feature race, but to the grass-roots handicap as well.”
Concluding she said: “We thank HH Sheikh Hamdan and the DIAR committee for their generous and ongoing commitment to Arabian racing. We eagerly await the start of the 2020 DIAR series, which begins on April 19 in Rome, with our first domestic DIAR prep race on June 11.”
DIAR SERIES 2020
19 April Capanelle, Rome, ITALY 3 international Arabian races, including 1 Gr3PA, 1 Listed PA
11 June Newbury, UK 1 international Arabian race
12 June Chepstow, UK 1 Arabian races (UK domestic horse only)
14 June Bro Park, Stockholm, Sweden 3 Arabian races, including 1 Gr3PA
23 June Newbury, UK 1 international Arabian race
28 June Duindigt, The Netherlands 3 Arabian races including 2 Listed PA races
29 June La Teste de Buch, France 3 international Arabian races, including 1 Gr2PA, 1 Gr3PA
2 July Newbury, UK 1 international Arabian race
9 July Newbury, UK 1 international Arabian race
26 July Newbury, UK 8 Arabian races, including 2 Gr1PA, 1 Gr2PA, 1 Gr3PA
