Mansour bin Zayed Festival Endurance Rides make a stop in Italy on Saturday

ABU DHABI, 20th April, 2018 (WAM) -- The H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival makes a stop in Arborea - a town in the province of Oristano, Sardinia, Italy – to stage endurance rides as part of ‘SARDEGNA ENDURANCE FESTIVAL’ on Saturday, April 21 and the Wathba Stallions Cup flat race on Sunday, April 22, 2018.

On Saturday’s the Festival supports rides which includes the two-star H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies CEI Cup and the H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Endurance Cup apart from a three-star 160-km ride, all as part of the Festival’s Year of Zayed as it marks the 100th birth anniversary of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

Together with the Horse Country Resort and the Italian Equestrian Federation, the endurance rides will be held on one of the most pleasant and safe tracks in Europe. Four loops - the red loop of 35km, the white and yellow loop of 25km and the green loop of 20km- will be the stages for the rides.

The competitions on Saturday, April 21, 2018 are: CEI3 of 160km, CEI2 of 120Km open and Ladies, CEIYJ2 of 120 Km and CEII of 90 Km.

"We are very proud to be staging these events and we thank the H.H. Sheikh Mansour Festival for their support," said Riccardo Giachino, Director of Horse Country Resort.

"The course develops over 20000 hectares of reclaimed land, the soft and flat ground allows a fast speed but always safe as we consider the welfare of the horses a priority,’ the ride organizer said.

"The breathtaking views of the area will amaze the riders during the competition, the sea and the local countryside will entertain both riders and competitors’ crews."

On Sunday, the Hippodrome Don Meloni in Chilivani will host the Sheikh Mansour Festival’s "Wathba Stallions Cup flat race. Sixteen horses are in the fray for the 1600-metre race.

"We are very happy to be back here in Sardinia to stage the Festival’s endurance rides. This year we are also staging the Wathba Stallions Cup flat race here," said Ms. Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, Chairperson of the International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA) and Chairperson of Ladies & Apprentice Racing Committees in the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR).