World Arabian Horse Championships
25-27, November 2016
The Unexpected Is Always Sweeter
World Arabian Horse Championships
25-27, November 2016
The Unexpected Is Always Sweeter by Susanne BÖsche
photos by Henrike Hormann
W
alking the streets of Paris can sometimes make one feel like they are in the middle of a film. Known across the globe as the city of love and light, Paris is also home to some of the most stylish people in the world. It is only logical then, that Paris host one of the “Big Three” European Arabian horse shows, the World Arabian Horse Championship. For decades, this epic three day event has showcased the crème-de-la-crème of Arabian horse breeding, while people from all over the globe enjoy the atmosphere of Paris, wandering around its petites rues after exciting competition at the Salon du Cheval. They say the unexpected moments are always sweeter. A few days before the World Championships, many in the Arabian horse community were united in their belief that nothing surprising would happen in Paris. They were all wrong, as the show had plenty of surprising moments in store. The 35th World Championship brought several firsts. The yearling classes introduced an unprecedented influence of one particular A HT Abroad
stallion and mare in the history of the show. RFI Farid secured the Best Sire Award through his three amazing yearling fillies, making him the first stallion ever to sire in one division, all three medal winners at the World Championships: Gold for D Ajayeb, Silver for HDM Maria Apal and Madinat Al Baydaa winning Bronze. RFI Farid was recently sold to the RFI Partnership, managed by Raphael Curti, Privilege SQF. “We opened his stud book during the All Nations Cup in Aachen, but didn’t expect such an unbelievable response,” Raphael explains. “Within no time, we sold more than 200 breedings. And now RFI Farid has had a thrilling show as a sire here in Paris!” “We are very happy with Madinat Al Baydaa’s success,” continues Raphael, who trained and showed her. “She was the youngest filly of the competition and did very well. Madinat was also named Best Female Head.” All in all, it was a great weekend for team Privilege SQF. “We entered six horses in the show and all were qualified for the championship,” continues Raphael. “My business partner, Philip Looyens, led Mansour AM to a bronze medal in junior colts. We had much success with our clients’ homebred horses.” Which leads us to Dubai Arabian Horse Stud’s uplifting moment when Ladi Veronika repeated her achievement from Dubai and Menton this year as the Leading Dam. Responsible for this success was not only RFI Farid’s yearling filly D Ajayeb, but also yearling colt D Seraj by FA El Rasheem. Both are grey, like their precious dam, although one can see the influence of each sire. The 2016 show season was the furthest from boring for the Ajman Stud team, garnering Gold at major shows around the world. In Paris, Ajman Stud premiered their colt Gallardo J who took the Junior Colts by storm winning Gold, and finishing his European Triple Crown. The Emerald J son made several dreams come true. Gallardo J is the first Triple Crown winner for his renowned breeder Christine Jamar and the first one bred in Belgium. Moreover, Gallardo J is Ajman Stud’s second consecutive Triple Crown
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Left: CR Jasmeenah, Platinum World Female Champion Below: Royal Colours, Platinum World Champion Male
Champion, following AJ Azzam in 2015; something no other stud farm has achieved. Aljassimya Farm’s hopes were always high for Mai Aljassimya, even when she was a newborn, laying in a large heap of golden straw back in 2014. Giacomo Capacci presented the elegant, bay two year old “a-Mai-zing” FA El Rasheem daughter the first day, and garnered the highest score of all junior fillies. Everybody in team Aljassimya Farm was very excited and crossed their fingers for the final day. As in previous years, there was strong competition among all the long legged, highly elegant fillies and the decision for 2016 World Champion Junior Filly was in favor for the enchanting Mai Aljassimya. Never one to disappoint, EKS Alihandro once again stepped into the arena galloping, trotting and dancing with an untamed strength. The audience loved his majestic and powerful performance as well as the judges. Only six years old, the bay Marwan Al Shaqab son is a triple ANC Gold Champion, double Menton Gold Champion, Dubai and World Gold Champion. Proudly owned by Athbah Stud, the untamed EKS Alihandro came back to add the title of Unanimous World Champion Senior Stallion to his long list of achievements. EKS Alihandro’s female counterpart, the bay Donna Molta Bella SRA, added another gold medal to her collection in Paris, too. Wherever the DA Valentino daughter appeared in the past—Middle East, USA or Europe—it was Gold. In 2014 Donna Molta Bella achieved World Gold Champion Junior Filly and she returned to reclaim her crown this time in the senior mares section. Every appearance was vociferously supported by her own string of cheerleaders, waving golden pompons. Donna Molta Bella’s overall grace, breed type and movement convinced the judges’ panel to honor her as the World Gold Champion Senior Mare for Al Saqran Stud. Other special moments included the hauntingly beautiful CR Jasmeenah. A curious group of Arabian horse enthusiasts watched on as she successfully performed in the Platinum World Female Championship. She stole the heart of many, among them Mark A HT Abroad
Gamlin, who has shown her many times before the mare was purchased by Aljassimya Farm. The WH Justice daughter also made emotions run high for her proud breeder Carole Ratcliffe. “When CR Jasmeenah was just born, I recognized how special she was,” remembers Carole. “She had this heart-stopping face and this something extra in her attitude. Although CR Jasmeenah is a oncein-a-lifetime horse for me, I knew, when we sold her to Aljassimya Farm, she was in the right place as she would get opportunities we could not give her.” Another was the double World Champion Stallion Royal Colours, who returned to Paris aiming for the Platinum World Champion Male title. The maroon bay, American-bred True Colours son presented by Paolo Capecci once again showed his beautiful movement while in stand-up. He stood so still, he might have been carved out of dark marble. He was an impressive picture and no one was really surprised when Royal Colours garnered the third title for Dubai Arabian Horse Stud. At the end, while the prize giving ceremony was celebrated, Christiane Chazel conveyed an important message to everyone in the Arabian horse community. “The quality of this World Championship was high,” she says, “but I am not happy with the number of horses. I would like to see more horses competing in Paris. So I have a message for all the breeders, owners and handlers out there: if you only come to win, everybody will lose.” American, Greg Gallún, underlines the importance of the show, when he says, “The World Championships is exactly that, you see a blending of different cultures, horses from around the world coming together and competing at the highest level. Competing here is an honor and if you are lucky enough to win a prize, it is fulfilling a dream.” | 141 | Spring 2017
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Senior Stallions
Gold: EKS ALIHANDRO (Marwan Al Shaqab x OFW Psylhouette) owned by Athbah Stud, KSA Top Right, Silver: SULTAN AL ZOBARA (Gazal Al Shaqab x Inra Al Shaqab) owned by Al Thumama Stud, QAT Bottom Right, Bronze: IM BAYARD CATHARE (Padrons Immage x Shamilah Bagheera) owned by Royal Cavalry Of Oman, OMN
Senior Mares
Gold: DONNA MOLTA BELLA SRA (DA Valentino x RD Fabreanna) owned by Al Saqran Stud, UAE Top Left, Silver: TEHAMA BALLALINA (Tehama Na Sidaqa x JJ Shai Majestic Queen) owned by Al Zobair Stud, UAE Bottom Left, Bronze: AJA EUROPA (Aja Justified x HB Marais) owned by owned by Royal Cavalry Of Oman, OMN A HT Abroad
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Junior Colts
Gold: GALLARDO J (Emerald J x Gomera J) owned by Ajman Stud, UAE Top Left, Silver: LUIGI (Kanz Albidayer x Lolita) owned by Al Shahania Stud, QAT Bottom Left, Bronze: GHAZWAN ALJASSIMYA (Marwan Al Shaqab x Athina El Jamaal) owned by Aljassimya Farm, QAT
Junior Fillies
Gold: MAI ALJASSIMYA (FA El Rasheem x RP Miss Surprise) owned by Aljassimya Farm, QAT Top Right, Silver: MOZN ALBIDAYER (S.M.A. Magic One x Mattaharii) owned by Albidayer Stud, UAE Bottom Right; Bronze: BINT HAZY AL KHALEDIAH (El Palacio VO x Hazy Al Khalediah) owned by Al Khashab Stud, KWT A HT Abroad
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Yearling Colts
Gold: D SERAJ (FA El Rasheem x Ladi Veronika) owned by Dubai Arabian Horse Stud, UAE Top Right, Silver: JAAL ALJASSIMYA (WH Justice x Annaiss) owned by Aljassimya Farm, QAT Bottom Right, Bronze: MANSOUR AM (EKS Alihandro x Abha Palma)owned by Al Mohamadia Stud, SAU
Yearling Fillies
Gold: D AJAYEB (RFI Farid x Ladi Veronika) owned by Dubai Arabian Horse Stud, UAE Top Left, Silver: HDM MARIA APAL (RFI Farid x WW Imania-Apal) owned by Ajman Stud, UAE Bottom Left, Bronze: MADINAT AL BAYDAA (RFI Farid x TS Madeleine) owned by Al Baydaa Stud, UAE A HT Abroad
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