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H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival has announced the setup of the new venture, the Wathba Stallions, to become the breeding arm of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, in the UAE and France, the appointed manager of the new firm Lara Sawaya confirmed.

Speaking to newsmen at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club on Sunday, Sawaya said: "The new company has been established under the directives of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. All marketing operations for the stallions of Sheikh Mansour would be conducted by the new company which will have its headquarters at the Mangroves Hotel by Jannah in Abu Dhabi."

"To ensure that all deals will go systematically in the right way, all breeding operations of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyans stallions would be conducted exclusively through the new company, the Wathba Stallions. A special call centre will be established at the suit 314 at the Mangroves Hotel by Jannah to respond to all queries in five languages; Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, while all information will be available on line through the website which will be launched for this purpose," she confirmed.

Semens from the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan top stallions including Mahabb along with his sire, Tahar De Candelon, in addition to Munjiz, Sire Dalbert, Mawood, Quazar and Sarrab, a few to mention, will be provided through the new company to breeders around the globe.

While the fees which will definitely be varying from one stallion to another, Sawaya noted that they are still to be determined. "Certain measures and criterions will be adopted to ensure that semens from top stallions will be sold only for well-bred mares and not otherwise," Sawaya said.

All of the stallions have made their presence felt in the race tracks before they were retired to stud, and for this reason, priority will be given to ensure the breeding of quality crops to follow in the footsteps of their fathers.

And with the rising interest in the Arabian horses, and the increasing number of races for Purebred Arabian horses in Europe and the Middle East, the market is growing rapidly. But, at the end of the day, the operation will be governed by breeding the best of horses, Sawaya concluded.