The Arabian Jockey Club has announced The President of the UAE Cup, a Grade 1 Stake for Arabians. The 1-1/16 mile race for 4-year-olds and up Open will be on the card with the Preakness at Pimlico race track, Baltimore, Maryland, on Saturday, May 19th, and features a significant purse of $75,000 added. The President of the UAE race series is the original, premier racing series for Purebred Arabian horses throughout the world.
In addition to the prestige of having a race on the card with the Preakness, (a race that last year saw attendance of over 107,000 and a television viewership of 8.8 million), Arabian horses will enjoy competing in a highly visible novelty race. At the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris, Europe’s equivalent to the Kentucky Derby, the Arabian race on the card had the second highest betting handle of the day. This frequently holds true for Arabian horse races held in proximity to the big Thoroughbred stake races. Needless to say, it’s an extraordinary opportunity to showcase the Arabian breed, both as an exciting race horse and as provocative entertainment that complements Thoroughbred racing.
“Regardless of appearances this arrangement didn’t just happen overnight,” notes Arabian racing owner and breeder Deb Mihaloff. “It has taken a great deal of financial investment and years of working on relationships and networking between the Arabian horse and Thoroughbred industries to create this atmosphere.”
Entries for the race already include the best America has to offer, including major Darley Award winners. Speculation is high regarding the possible return from the Middle East of 2011 Darley Horse of the Year, TM Fred Texas. Other Darley winners aiming for the race include Dixies Valentine, Grilla, Sanddpiper, and the Darley nominated TM Junior Johnson, younger brother of TM Fred Texas and winner of the $30,000 Gr 2 Texas Six Shooter earlier this year in Texas.
The historic Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness Stakes, first opened its doors on October 25, 1870, making the Baltimore track the second oldest in the United States behind Saratoga. The gem of the spring meet at this track is the Preakness, second jewel in the Thoroughbred Triple Crown.
