São Paulo – The horse Atentaddo VE, ridden by jockey Waldomiro Blandi, has won the Arab Chamber Grand Prize for the second time in a row, in a race held this Monday evening (23rd) at the Jockey Club in São Paulo. The trophy was presented by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce president Marcelo Sallum. The prize was created last year as part of the celebrations marking March 25th, Arab Community Day in Brazil.
The race was for Arabian-type horses only. “The prize is a way to promote Arabian horses in Brazil and to showcase the quality of this breed, which is very good,” Sallum stated. “Besides, it is a brand that connects with the community [of Arab descent] and with the countries we represent,” he added.
According to Atentaddo’s breeder José Silvestre Viana Egreja, an “Arabian horse breeding revival is underway” in Brazil. São Paulo’s Jockey Club resumed hosting Arabian races in 2013, after a nine-year hiatus.
Regarding the animal, Egreja claimed it wasn’t “born out of the blue”: rather, it is part of a long lineage of champions that have won titles throughout the United States and Europe, whose grandsire the breeder himself imported approximately 20 years ago.
The owner of Fazenda Campestre farm, in Penápolis, São Paulo, Egreja also explained the reason for the name Atentaddo: “It means nervous, restless!”
The current owner of the nine-year-old horse, Nuri Donizetti José Haddad added that the animal won six out of eight races it ran in and that its victories are “the sum of several factors,” but he believes the main reason is the fact that the horse had success in endurance riding races in the past.
“Prior to coming to the Jockey [Club], it was the 20-kilometer endurance race champion; and the 40-km race champion in São Paulo and Brazil; this gave it the heart of a long-distance runner, and this is very important,” he stressed.
Now, Haddad intends to have Atentaddo compete overseas, in Europe, and would like an invitation for the Dubai World Cup, an event held annually in the United Arab Emirates.
Before the Arab Chamber Grand Prize, another Arabian horse-only race took place: Prova Especial Comunidade Árabe do Brasil (the Arab Community in Brazil Special Race). The winner was the mare Rhondda Rach, ridden by jockey José Moura. The breeder is former Arab Chamber president Jamil Saliba.
Both races were attended by Arab Chamber board members, diplomats from Arab countries and guests.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
