QREC chairman HE Shaikh Mohamed bin Faleh al-Thani (left), QREC general manager Sami Jassim al-Boenain (centre) and owner-trainer Hassan al-Matwi at the auction sale in Paris recently.
By Chris Hoover/Doha
Qatar is keen to host the Asian Racing Conference (ARC) in 2018. This was disclosed by QREC general manager Sami Jassim al-Boenain in an exclusive chat with the Gulf Times yesterday.
Qatar, which became a member of the Asian Racing Federation in 2001, has been actively involved in the activities of the ARC which came into being in 1960 in Tokyo. At the 35th ARC in Hong Kong earlier this year, India was selected to host the next event in Mumbai in early 2016.
“We are keen to host the ARC in Qatar in 2018. I have already spoken to the general secretary of ARF and we are in the process of presenting our proposal.
“As everyone knows, Qatar is capable of hosting any event. It is very important for Qatar to host the ARC and I am very excited about it. This will give us an opportunity to showcase our potential as a major racing venue in the international arena and also ensure that our international racing weekend will attract participation from the Asian countries as well,” Sami told the Gulf Times.
“I would like to have horses from Asia coming here to take part in the international races. Since we have the international events in February, it is a good time for the horses from these countries to come here as they will be in prime form. There is top class racing taking place in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan and India during this part of the year. I have spoken about this at the ARC in Hong Kong and there has been a positive response.
“I will also be inviting all the members of the ARF to the International Racing Carnival in
Qatar in February. Asia is a very important part of our plans and we will spare no effort to ensure that it will be the best ever ARC ever held,” Sami added.
Sami also spoke about an Asian Championship that could be rotated amongst the members of the ARF each year.
“It will be great to have an Asian Cup held each year in different Asian countries. This Group I championship will have the best horses in Asia competing against each other. I will come up with this proposal at the ARC in India.”
The first ARC was held on the initiative of Japan Racing Association president Todamasa Sakai and Chit Khine of the Rangoon Turf Club. The maiden conference was attended by 69 delegates drawn from Burma, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaya, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then it has grown in stature.
From those early days the ARC has expanded rapidly, both in the number of delegates attending and in the size of the geographical area covered.
At the second Conference in 1961, Australia, India, New Zealand and Sarawak became official members; at the ninth Conference (1970) Korea and Turkey joined; at the 11th (1973) Indonesia and Pakistan; at the 16th (1982) Bahrain; at the 22nd (1991) Macau; at the 23rd (1993) South Africa; at the 24th (1995) the United Arab Emirates; at the 25th Conference (1997) Mauritius; and at the 26th Conference (1999) Saudi Arabia; and at the 27th Conference (2000) Oman; and at the 28th Conference (2001) Qatar.
At the 28th conference, it was decided to establish a permanent organization, the Asian Racing Federation. The objectives of the ARF was to meet and foster goodwill and mutual understanding through the medium of periodic conferences and other racing events in the member countries. The other objective was also to promote horseracing and breeding, develop mutually beneficial objectives and strategies between racing organisations without discrimination to aid the development of horseracing.
