Arabian stakes on tap at Pleasanton

There will a graded race on Saturday’s card at the Oak Tree at Pleasanton meet, the $47,000, Grade 3 Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Arabian Cup. This is the third running of the race, which was the first graded stakes at Pleasanton last year, when the purse was $30,000. In 2012, the race was run with a $20,000 purse.

A $40,000 stakes for Arabian fillies and mares, the H.H. Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship, will be run for the second time. The race had a $25,000 purse last year. All the jockeys in the race will be women, and the winning runner will earn a berth in Abu Dhabi in November against winners of the other Sheikha Fatima races held in 12 countries. The winner of that race is the Ladies World Champion of 2014.

Both races will be run at six furlongs, with full fields of 10 expected.