Arabian racehorse owner leads world rankings again

Owner and author Dr Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Nujaifi has been ranked as the world’s top Arabian racehorse owner for 2012 according to IFAHR statistics.

It is the third consecutive season Dr Al-Nujaifi has held the title, for all races in all countries by placement.

His horses were bred mainly at the Al-Nujaifi stud farm 40 km north of the ancient city Mosul (capital city of the ancient province of Nineveh) in Iraq, where his family has been raising purebred Arabians since 1638.

“The breeding of Arabian horses has suffered over the past three decades in Iraq and I am delighted in the increasing interest we are seeing in purebred Iraqi horses racing in Europe and all over the world, and the appreciation of this ancient bloodline,” Dr Al-Nujaifi said, “particularly after winning major European G1 races by my Iraqi bred horses.”

Dr Al-Nujaifi races horses in Iraq as well as at major race courses, particularly in the UK, Sweden, France, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States.

“Having just published ‘The Purebred Arabian Horses of Iraq’, I feel justified in my claims on their influence on world breeding programmes,” he said.

Dr Al-Nujaifi is Chief Advisor to the Speaker of the Iraqi House of Representatives, and has a Doctorate in Agriculture from Oxford University. He divides his time between Iraq and Europe, and is vice-president of the Iraqi Arabian Horse Organisation, Chairman and international representative of the Registration, Stud Book and Rules Committee.

‘The Purebred Arabian Horses of Iraq’ has been published by Medina Publishing, which specialises in producing books on Arabia, Arabian equestrian and other sports.