Fuller has made a return to race riding following a serious ankle injury in 2016 and is enjoying tremendous success by riding winners for trainer Jamie Snowden. 

 

To date she has a tally of 54 winners including Arabian, Flat, National Hunt and point-to-point racing and has ridden abroad in countries from France, Germany, Belgium and Abu Dhabi. 

 

2013 saw Fuller crowned the AGA Ladies Point to Point Champion, Reserve Lady Rider Champion in her first season in Arabian racing in 2014. The following year the accolade of Champion Arabian Lady Rider went her way and she ended the 2016/17 season as the Champion Lady Amateur National Hunt Jockey. 

The granddaughter of legendary Yorkshire Mick Easterby, Mason was a successful point-to-point jockey and jump jockey until she broke her back in two places in a serious point-to-point fall in 2015. 

 

Mason has since made a full recovery and has subsequently won three times at Epsom. This year saw her partner Tapis Libre to victory in the Ladies' Derby Handicap at the racetrack. 

 

In the Arabian sphere, she was named Champion Female Jockey in 2016 and is currently leading this year - three wins ahead and is second overall in the male and female championships. 

 

Last year Mason came runner-up in the Lady Amateur Championship and is current joint leader for 2017.

 

Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the minister of culture, youth and social development for the United Arab Emirates was in attendance at the ADIHEX conference early on Thursday morning. 

 

He was presented a copy of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horses Flat Racing First Year Book 2016 by Lara Sawaya, executive director of HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival. 

 

Schirmann (right, with Jackson Rojas) also told me about the differences jockeys encounter when riding Arabian horses. 

 

He added: "They are beautiful horses [the Arabians] and I know that they have a small neck and a little bit smaller than thoroughbred horses. You also have to ride them completely different, in thoroughbred racing you ride very short but in Arabian racing you would ride a little bit longer. There necks are shorter and if you ride too short on an Arabian, you are too high over the horse. All the jockeys, apprentice and amateur riders will ride longer than they do on thoroughbreds."

 

As ambassador for the HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival, Ziani believes that the role encompasses being part of an institution that not only sponsors Arabian racing but promotes the races around the world. 

 

He said: "We travel everywhere in the world, we've seen so many races, different racetracks and our job is to advise the young jockeys. Not only to ride but how to act with people, how to dress, how they should face the trainers and owners when they speak to them. 

 

"When I first started, there was no-one to tell me when you talk to an owner or trainer you must act like this. Or your dress code has to be perfect and when you are young and 16, 18, 20 you want to be fashionable more than classy which sometimes doesn't match with racing.

 

"We are here to tell them the mistakes that we did and that they should not do. In every sport I think it's really great to have someone at the top to tell you look be careful with what you're going to do, if you ever fly somewhere else and don't know the culture of the countries, just act like this, do that, don't do that because myself and Richie have travelled to many countries. We have experience with that so we can share that with the young riders."

 

7.15pm each night has seen a huge crowd gather in front of the Hyperloop model underneath the HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival as members of the public who have entered the draw, wait to see if they happen to be a lucky winner. 

 

TV presenter and commentator Derek Thompson (above left) is on hand to take the crowd through proceedings which creates a unique atmosphere as the winners names are called.