Fourteen quality runners will take part in the  world's richest horse race for Purebred Arabians this Sunday for the His Highness The President's Cup. The meeting of seven races is being sponsored by ADNOC Distribution and the feature event is the fifth race, The President's Cup which carried a purse of Dh one million, the richest race in the world for Arabian horses.

Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Pat Buckley, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Racing Committee (ADRC) said the Group One race and the meeting, under the patronage of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Director General of the President's Office, looks to be ultra-competitive. "This running of the President's Cup, which has attracted a great deal of attention will be the springboard to the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club hosting a truly international event in 2005," said Buckley.

Already racing in the capital has seen a surge in the number of fans attending with some top quality racing matched by very attractive Pick Six and Pick a Winner raffles. Leading the quality field is the highly-rated Nizam from Qatar and the connections will be looking to follow up their win in the National Day Cup with a win here on Sunday.  Rated 117, Nizam leads with Paul Scholes (115), Khoutoubia (112), Iska Al Mels (112), Jiyush (110), Dorfa (108), Royal Epic (105), Have Fun (104), El Wodkine (104) and Khaddour (100) all among the top runners in the fray.

"With the UAE Equestrian and Racing Federation sponsoring a lot of races for Pure-bred Arabian horse around the world it is only just that we also stage the world's richest race for Purebred Arabians. This is a big boost to the many breeders of Arabian horse and we are expecting a top class race meeting on Sunday," said Hussein Mohammed Hussein, Secretary General of the Federation.

Ibrahim Al Marzooqi, Corporate Communications Head of ADNOC Distribution said: "The company feels it is our responsibility to promote sports linked to our culture and heritage. Horse racing is part of our Arab culture and we give such events top priority and support," he added.

The quality of the event has ensured maximum international exposure and ADEC have reached a number of major screening deals which will take the races far and wide.

In addition to club's regular live screening on Showtime, the club announced deals with Ten Sports covering 45 million homes in the sub-continent, Horse TV in the US and Sky in the UK. "In addition Gillette World Sport has booked a segment while CNN has also requested a segment," said Ali Jassim, ADRC's Director of Media and International Relations.

"The world's richest Arabian horse race will also be the highest profile Arabian race ever staged anywhere in the world," added Ali Jasim.

"It is fitting that coverage of a race dedicated to His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan will be seen in hundreds of millions of homes around the globe. We also thank the support of Abu Dhabi Sports Channel," he added.

Apart from the US$ One million Pick Six prize, the regular Pick Six, the newly-introduced Pick-A-Winner raffle and a raffle for a 4WD car will also be on offer.