05.03.2020

Purebred Arabian breeders’ in the South-West of France are recognised by their peers

Pau racecourse hosted the General Assembly of the ECSSO (Syndicat des éleveurs de chevaux de sang du Sud-Ouest) on Saturday, February 1^st. During the course of the evening, in which the sector as a whole gathered for the traditional breeders’ gala occasion, the merits of the best horses from the South-West region in all categories, and for this read English thoroughbreds, Purebred Arabians (PA), Anglo-Arabians, and encompassing the flat and jumping divisions, were recognised. The achievements of PA breeders in the south-west were also naturally recognised by their peers. Battash de Faust (AF Albahar), representing the trainer-owner partnership of Élisabeth Bernard and Abdullah Al Attiyah, landed the top 3-year-old PA award. He hails from the Haras de Saint-Faust breeding academy, a trait he shares in common with Inattendu (Anodin), with the latter landing the best English thoroughbred 3-year-old award. Trained by Charles Gourdain for Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Al Shamoos (No Risk Al Maury), a Val Bunting-Mohammed Al Nujaifi breeding co-production, was the big winner in terms of accolades, as the mare made off with the best older PA horse bred and leading PA distaffer awards (South-West of France] amongst others. A dual Group PA winner, the mare was also recognised as the Horse of the Year in this corner of France. Bel’Izam (Nizam), second at Gr1 PA level in the United Arab Emirates and German Listed placed, shone the torch for this area of France internationally. He was bred by the Haras de Mandore, carries the colours of Hamdan Al Maktoum and is trained by Damien de Watrigant.