Zara Phillips, the daughter of HRH The Princess Royal, made a quick visit to Australia earlier this week to attend the 2009 Emirates Melbourne Cup at the Flemington Race Course in Victoria.
View the image at the Daily Mail
Zara attended the event on Tuesday November 3rd as one of the year’s international guests (others included Good Charlotte rockers Benji and Joel Madden), and was a prominent fixture in the Birdcage (the place to be). Wearing a royal blue frock by American brand Thread Social and a resplendid fascinator by British milliner Philip Treacy, Zara had no problems enjoying her day at the races and mingling with Australian celebrities.
“Ascot has a lot of rules about dress codes, so it’s nice to be able to be a bit more relaxed and for women to able to wear skirts that are a bit shorter,” Zara told a reporter from The Australian. And with some of the short skirts and questionable fashion choices at the Racecourse on the day, one could not be blamed if they missed the race that stops a nation and didn’t know that Shocking took out the Cup.
Later that evening, Zara was seen at Melbourne hot-spot Spice Market with a group of friends. She avoided being photographed, but was happy to chat with others at the post-Race party, including the winning jockey Corey Brown.
Click here to view Zara’s current events thread.
JessRulz British Royals Australia, Horse Racing, Zara Phillips
Sheikh Mayed Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum won the Kentucky Cup Endurance race which took place in Lexington. The Kentucky Cup endurance is a lead up race for the 2010 Alltech World Equestrian Games.
The endurance race was a 75mile race which was completed by the Sheikh in 6:05:30. After the win, Sheikh Mayed said “It was amazing. This is the sport that we most love. It’s our history.” He went on saying “Given the weather today, the course was amazing. But the weather made it very difficult. There wasn’t any hard part, other than the ground being a bit slippery. Other than that, it was excellent. There wasn’t anything wrong or bad.”
For more on the topic, visit the ‘Dubai Ruling Family in Endurance Races’ thread.
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Click on image to see picture at telegraaf.nl
Newspaper the ‘Telegraaf‘ reports that Prince Bernhard of Orange-Nassau, 2nd son of Princess Margriet of The Netherlands, has been punished on sunday by the directors of the final races at the circuit of Zandvoort. The prince was suspended for the final race of the Tango Dutch GT4 Championship, in which he would participate together with Danny van Dongen in a Corvette C6.
The reason for this was an incident at the Dielcup, of saturday. When the prince came close to a curve, his car bumped the car of Liesette Braams, who ended next to the circuit, together with two other cars. The prince was shown the black flag and he was not allowed to participate in sunday’s race.
It isn’t the first time this season that this happened. The prince was not invited to the Dutch GT4-race in belgium because he didn’t behave correctly, in front of the eyes of the people who were in charge of the race.
Marengo Dutch Royals Horse Racing, Prince Bernhard van Vollenhoven
His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai won the 120-km Euston Park Endurance ride which took place on Monday. Sheikh Mohammed completed the race in 5 hours 7 minutes and 47 seconds while Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum won 2nd place. The royals competed against 118.
The FEI has found Sheikh Mohammed guilty of doping which leads to a six month ban. Sheikh Mohammed rode his horse in Januray and in February the FEI in a statement said: “In both events, the horse was ridden by Sheikh Mohammed who is the person responsible.” Sheikh Mohammed said he had no knowledge of the doping while the trainer admitted to the doping of the horses for the two 120km races in Dubai.
dazzling UAE Royals Horse Racing, Horses, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Click to see the gallery at WAM
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and his wife HRH Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussain met with Queen Elizabeth II of England while attending the Epsom Derby race.
Sheikh Mohammed and Queen Elizabeth talked about horse racing in England and in Dubai, as well as the horses owned by Sheikh Mohammed. Queen Elizabeth wished Sheikh Mohammed all the best in the racing world.
Sheikh Mohammed attends the Epsom races on yearly basis. Last year, Princess Haya’s horse “True Colors” won the race. The colt was a gift to her from Sheikh Mohammed.
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Click Here to Read More About the Queen's past Derby visit from Reuters
Each year, on the first Saturday in May, thousands of people pour into Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, to see the Kentucky Derby. Millions of people throughout the world will watch the race on television. It is often dubbed, “the most exciting two minutes in sports”. This event is perhaps the most prestigious and well-known in US horse racing.
In addition to the beautiful horses, the event is typically associated with two things: mint juleps, and large, stylish hats. While our friends in the United Kingdom have several events throughout their social calendar that afford women the opportunity to wear hats, we Americans have but very few, if any, other than the Kentucky Derby. Even though the origin of hat-wearing at the Kentucky Derby has humble roots (to shield one from the hot sun), women have seized upon this practicality, and turned it into an opportunity to make a fashion statement.
In 2007, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain visited the Kentucky Derby, and wore a beautiful hat in lime green with fuchsia accents. Derby fans and royal watchers alike were thrilled with the opportunity to see the Queen in person, and she didn’t disappoint. Her Majesty was elegant and graceful, and her appearance was the highlight of the Derby that year. Read more…
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Charles and Camilla have increased the size of their racing string. The couple now have a yearling and a foal to add to their original filly, Royal Superlative.
Joe Grimwade, the manager of the Royal Studs, was recently interviewed. He said that the foal is unnamed and was the result of the royals breeding their mare, Supereva, with a stallion called Dansili. The royals had not seen their new foal, which was born in late January.
The Waleses’ yearling, a filly called Carousel, shares the same mare, Supereva, with the newcomer. The sire was the stallion Pivotal. Carousel is planned to begin her racing career next year. Supereva is a wedding present from the Queen, who currently has about 30 horses in training. She was probably one of their favorite gifts since Camilla is a well-known enthusiast and Wales was interested in steeple chase in the 1970s and 1980s. Royal Superlative, now three years old, is expected to have her first run of the season (only her second run ever) this spring. Unfortunately, she did not fare well in her previous race.
It would be interesting to know what arrangements the royal couple have made for the end of their horses’ racing careers.
For more information, please see this article in The Daily Telegraph.
iowabelle British Royals Duchess of Cornwall, Horse Racing, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales
During routine post-competition last week, two of Sheikh Mohammeds horse and one which was ridden by the Sheikh were tested positive to banned substances during competition.
A statement issued last night on behalf HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Bin Rashid Al Maktoum said the ruler of Dubai had offered the “highest level of cooperation to the International Equestrian Federation (FEI)”.
The statement also said that: “His highness immediately requested his representative contact the FEI and advise them of this information in order that they may correct the placings as Sheikh Mohammed considers his results null and void.” While Sheikh Mohammed stressed he was “completely unaware and utterly condemning of the administration of these substances”, the news is likely to have caused embarrassment in the royal household. Sheikh Mohammed has started his own internal investigation into the dopings and imposed a competition ban on himself — which has not yet been requested by the FEI. He has also volunteered his acceptance that he is legally the “person responsible” for the horses.
Sheikh Mohammeds wife Princess Haya, is president of the FEI, an organisation which has been very publicly been trying to clamp down on doping in horse sport.
dazzling UAE Royals Dubai, Horse Racing, Princess Haya, Scandal, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum has decided to participate in the kentucy derby after two of his three-year-old colts dominated the UAE races. Regal Ransom and Desert Party who finished about 15 lengths ahead of their closest rivals in the US$2 million race are both owned by the sheikh’s powerful Godolphin Racing stable.
The colts next race could be the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky on May 2.
Sheikh Mohammed has long said his dream was winning the Kentucky Derby — with a horse trained primarily in Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed said “Every year we’ll come, we’ll come back stronger. Watch out for us,” upon arriving in 2001 at Churchill Downs the day before the 2001 Derby.
dazzling UAE Royals Horse Racing, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
The Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum watched the 14th edition of the horse racing Dubai World Cup which was launched at Nad al-Sheba racecourse on Saturday.
H.H Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoum presented, the owner of the winner horse Well Armed horse and owners of Kentucky’s WinStar Farms with the 2009 Dubai World Cup in presence of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid and other Sheikhs.
Attending the races were Crown Prince’s and Sheikhs of different emirates, Saudi & Bahraini royals as well as horse owners and fans.
Read about the worlds most expensive race here.
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