Last year’s World Arabian Horse Championship in the capital of the State of Qatar, Doha, for many marked the end of an era: after four decades of the world’s most important Arabian horse show being hosted by the global capital of luxury, good taste and fashion, the Championnat du Monde du Cheval Arabe was moved to the Arabian Peninsula. All the irrational fears and doubts that the crowning event of the season would never return to the city on the Seine proved greatly exaggerated, and the horses presented this year far surpassed last year’s horses in terms of quality and diversity. As for the champions, one thing is certain: surprises rarely happen in Paris.
In December, the World Arabian Horse Championship returned not only to the French capital, but also to the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Centre in the 15th Arrondissement of Paris, which borders the 7th, where one is bound to find the Eiffel Tower, the Rodin Museum, the Hôtel National des Invalides with the tomb of Napoléon, and (last but not least) Musée du Quai Branly, dedicated in its entirety to indigenous art and cultures. Next door, in the 14th Arrondissement, there is Montparnasse, one of the most famous Parisian quartiers, home to countless bars that attract both tourists and locals. And so, the residents of Paris and tourists visiting the city alike got a gift for the Feast of Saint Nicholas in the form of an Arabian horse show, the apogee in last year’s series of events, which could easily and quickly (in Parisian terms) be reached by public transport. Therefore, the crowds visiting the Salon du Cheval and the Championship were not surprising at all. What was rather surprising, however, was the astonishment of the organizers of the Paris Horse Fair that the interest in the purebred event was so huge. In spite of the annoying drizzle, the queue Porte de Versailles seemed endless, and the corridors between the halls dedicated to equestrianism and Arabians were regularly blocked. But these are technical matters, let’s focus on what we’re really interested in.

Feminine Friday
A quick glance at the six female classes and among the 64 names in total, many of them well-known celebs, as many as 15 Polish-bred and/or owned horses (almost a quarter!). This must have made quite an impression on the guests from Poland, especially since many of them are show veterans and “graduates” of the All Nations Cup, the European Championship, Polish Nationals, Global Champions Arabians Tour or Prague Intercup. We saw all of them but two: Anagramma and Wencedora, and those in attendance did well despite rough competition.

In the Yearling Fillies Championship, we saw El Lyrica KL (Lyric EA – Erskina / Kahil Al Shaqab) from Klikowa Arabians and Sana OS (Exagon OS – Panamera OS / Psytadel), bred by Gestüt Osterhof and owned by Lubochnia Arabians. The following ladies qualified to the Junior Mare Championship: Bianca of Sinus (Fadi Al Shaqab – Ballena / Kahil Al Shaqab), bred by Sinus Arab Stud and owned by Polia Arabians, Wildonara (Paris – Shanghai E.A. / Wildona) from Michałów Stud, Ebonita (Haash OSB – Etruzja / Pogrom) from Janów Podlaski Stud and Bella Rose (Star Farid – Bogini Marajj / Marajj), bred by Paweł Redestowicz and owned by the Jahazi Family from Iran. Moreover, at the end of her class, Bianca of Sinus, who had one of the highest scores of the Championship (93 points) received the special award for Best Head in Class.

In the Senior Mare Championship, we had the pleasure to see the Michałów-bred Emarella (Sahm El Arab – Emandorella / Eden C), owned by Aljassimya Farm, Echo Anastazja (Psyche Keret – Echo Aurora / Eternity Ibn Navarone D), Pila (Abyad AA – Piba / Gazal Al Shaqab) from Janów Podlaski, Poganinka (El Omari – Pentra / Poganin) from Michałów and Pustynna Noc (WH Kaneko – Pustynna Rosa / Ekstern), ex-Michałovian and currently owned by Budhen’s Stud in Belgium. Interestingly, Anastazja, while bred by Chrcynno-Palace Stud, this time competed for Ahmed Hamad Althumairi, her new owner from Saudi Arabia. Although none of them won any medals, which is obviously a pity, each of them can boast the title of World Championship Top 10.

Purebred Top Models
From the very beginning of Friday’s spectacle, we had many a horse to marvel at. For many, especially among the enormous and packed audience (the stands were so full, organisers would let people in only in small groups, having made sure there was room for everyone), it was the first opportunity to see some of the top models they had been following all year long. Such equine celebrities included Durrat Albidayer (Jyar Meia Lua – A Vision MI / Allegiance MI). This year she appeared in three shows, always perfectly prepared by her team at Privilege SFQ, and each time she left the show with gold in the Yearling Fillies Championship. And we are talking here about GCAT Cannes in June, the All Nations Cup in Aachen, and the World Championship. Cherry on top: in Paris, the Albidayer filly scored a full set of twenties for head and neck, which is hardly surprising.

The next star and the first to score twenties across the board for type was Aisha Al Sheikh (Jyar Meia Lua – Algamra / AJ Portofino) from Al Sheikh Stud, like Durrat also shown by Raphael Curti. Moreover, she scored seven more twenties for head and neck, and it is rather noteworthy that her class was of such high quality that twenties came aplenty. Two days later, the first three juniors in this class took the whole Junior Mares Championship, but more on that in a moment.

There was also no shortage of extraordinary personalities among the senior mares, especially in class 3B (the last we saw on Friday), in which, apart from Poganinka, we also saw Bint Hazy Al Khalediah (El Palacio VO – Hazy Al Khalediah / F Shamaal), bred by Al Khalediah Stables and owned by Al Jumail Stud. This was the first appearance of this phenomenal mare after nearly a three-year-long break, in top form, although clearly unaccustomed to the atmosphere of shows. AJ Kayya (AJ Kafu – Aja Caprice / EKS Alihandro ) from Ajman Stud could have been a bit of a disappointment for some… The breath-taking Reigning Queen of GCAT gave the impression of a fatigued, yet diligent student. Her performance was top notch, but unfortunately she seemed tired from her constant travelling and training. A quick glance at her calendar and we’ll see that less than 3 weeks earlier she was in hot and sunny Riyadh, and right after her triumph in the GCAT ranking, she ended up in cold and humid Paris. She deserves a vacation. The aforementioned Poganinka, on the other hand, was beyond compare when it came to movement, not only in class, but of all the mares – close to perfection, as if taken from the definition of the ideal Arabian horse.

Masculine Saturday
There was no shortage of Polish horses in the male classes either, which were held in their entirety on Saturday. There were six Polish stallions out of 48, which is exactly one in eight, and we saw five of them, as Michałów’s Partes had been withdrawn. Besides, class 4A, in which he was supposed to compete, must’ve been unlucky, because less than half of the horses listed in the catalogue presented themselves in front of the judges and the audience. In the following classes it was much better and Polish fans of Arabians could cheer both live and on-line on Janów’s very own Comoros (HL El Ganador – Cedora / Kahil Al Shaqab), Monarchio (Star Farid – Minerwina / Kahil Al Shaqab), bred by Wojciech Parczewski and owned by Bogdan Maślanka, Pheniks Al Miro (D Zeidan – Psyche Lejla / Pogrom) from Evopegasus Stud, Pinito (EKS Alihandro – Piniata / Eden C), owned by Flaxman Arabians, and Paris (Kahil Al Shaqab – Palmeta / Ecaho), owned by Polia Arabians. Fun fact: the last two boys were both born in the stables at Janów Podlaski.

Comoros, Pinito and Paris qualified for the championships, and just like their colleagues from the female classes left the French capital with World Championship Top 10 titles. For some, simply being in Paris with their equine friends was a dream come true and an adventure of a lifetime. Bogdan Maślanka spoke in this spirit about Monarchio’s performance which was quite thrilling. First they made our hearts stop, only to show us how important is the relationship between horse man based on respect and trust.

Front page celebrities
Saturday started on a high note, as the first to shine that day at Porte de Versailles was AB Bandar (D Seraj – Priscilla OS / Poseidon OS) from Abhaa Arabians. He received twenties for type, movement and head and neck, an omen of excitement to come until the last class of senior stallions was over. In the second class of yearlings, we were all witnesses to a clash of young titans, as after several months, the grey Afreen Al Shaqab (D Mezyan – Siwar Al Shaqab / SMA Magic One) from Al Shaqab Stud once again challenged the bay Aesar Alwajba (AJ Radman – LR Altagracia / Excalibur E.A.) of Al Wajba Stud. They had to compete again the next day, also with the third in their class, the dark grey colt Azzaam Al Amal (EL Galal Baahir ZA – Arabesca Scarlet Moon ZA / Sidi Scorpio ZA) bred by Al Amal Arabians and owned by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Saoud Alqassimi.
One of the most anticipated stallions of the show was Baz Aljassimya (Exxalt – MD Mirka / AJ Thee Luca), bred by Aljassimya Farm and owned by Akmal Stud, who appeared in the same class as Fajer AA (Shanghai E.A. – Fadwa AA / Fadi Al Shaqab) from Ariela Arabians. It immediately became clear at the beginning of the class that one of them would go for gold. Both had proven themselves in recent years formidable showmen who can steal the show. Furthermore, their clash was something that had been expected for a long time, as these two veterans of, among others, GCAT had so far missed each other at various shows. Baz’s owners also had the ambitions to repeat his gold at the World Championship, which he won two years ago as a yearling. What else do these two have in common? Well, both are gold All Nations Cup medallists, so stakes were undoubtedly high. Ultimately, they shared twenty-three 20s, and the defending champion turned out to be better by 0.64 points.
The competition of senior stallions, who are only seniors in name, as their age category starts at 4 years old, was to be equally exciting. The stallion EKS Farajj (Ibn Farid – EKS Bint Helwah / Laheeb), bred by Willy Brown’s Elkasun Arabians and owned by Haras Royal De Bouznika, is a rare sight at shows these days. Last year at the World Championship in Doha, he was the Senior Stallion silver medallist, so expectations and ambitions were through the roof. Especially since we didn’t see him anywhere for 11 long months until he won gold at the El Jadida show in Morocco, where he currently lives. To say that he was unrivalled would be a grave understatement. In his class, of course, he was first, receiving the highest marks from the judges for type, head and neck, and movement, deservedly so. It was a pleasure to watch him present himself in front of the audience, full of vigour, in excellent humour, rested and relaxed. Not tired at all from the arduous intercontinental travels, he was clearly enjoying himself.

In the second class of senior stallions, in addition to the Polish-bred Paris, there were HL El Ganador (HP Shakir TE – Lonco Baby Maria / HP Emir), bred by Familia Dutch Matthei and owned by Hanaya Arabian Stud, and D Seraj (FA El Rasheem – Ladi Veronika / Versace ) from Dubai Arabian Horse Stud. Also entered was AJ Kafu (Shanghai E.A. – AJ Kahayla / QR Marc) from Ajman Stud, but he last participated in any show at the Dutch leg of GCAT, so he must be preparing for the 2025 season. We saw the first of them a few months ago in Aachen, where he won gold, but we hadn’t seen D Seraj since the first days of February… His performance was all the more exciting, and he was perfectly prepared and he was the first in the class with the highest score of all stallions this year – 93.71 points.

La crème de la crème à Paris
Sunday was devoted entirely to the championships, and before each of them, a chamber orchestra of the French Republican Guard would play fanfares. The longest performance separated the mares from the stallions, and in addition to the large orchestra of dragoons of the Republican Guard, an all-male choir performed for the guests of Porte de Versailles, making the experience all the more momentous. Especially since in the championships we had the pleasure of seeing once again all the “pure-blood” nobles, whom we admired so in their respective classes. And as I mentioned at the beginning: in Paris, they don’t really like surprises a lot. With the exception of only the Yearling Fillies Championship, in each one the winners were the winners of the highest scores in their age categories.

The first to be held was the Yearling Fillies Championship, which was won by Durrat Albidayer almost unanimously (only one of the judges had a “minority report”). The fight for silver and bronze was between the highest-scoring yearling D Rowa (D Seraj – D Danat / SG Labib) from Dubai Arabian Horse Stud, who took silver, and Royal Futurista (AJ Radman – HK Sweet Musique / HDF Luciano), bred by Cindy McGown & Mark David and owned by Al Wajba Stud, who won bronze. The GCAT multi-medallist Sultana Al Thamer (Dominic M – Weaam Al Jassim / Emerald J) this time lost to her more experienced colleagues.

The Junior Mares Championship was basically a rerun of Friday’s class 2B. All three medals were awarded to three-year-olds from this class: Aisha Al Sheikh (almost unanimous gold), D Najlah and D Raseel. Interestingly, in a way, the Dubai mares are “twins” as they have an identical pedigree: D Seraj – Elle Flamenca / Ajman Moniscione, and they were born just nine days apart. Bronze medallist D Raseel is less known than her titled sister, but she is developing beautifully and we will probably hear more about her quite soon.

In the Senior Mares Championship, the fight for gold took place between AJ Kayya and Bint Hazy Al Khalediah with the former ultimately taking it home. Now she can finally have time-off after an exhausting season, during which she won a total of eight medals of the noblest of colours. One should also keep in mind that she is a two-time World Championship bronze medallist, both as a yearling and a junior mare in 2021-2022. And the bronze was awarded to the well-known in Europe mare Basandra Settimocielo (Ajman Moniscione – MA Scarlet / Hadidi), bred by Maria Annaratone Ferraroni and owned by Ajman Stud. Also Emarella caught the eyes of the judges and their attention as I mentioned earlier, and one of the judges even thought she should win gold.

After three female championships, it was time for the stallions. As in the case of junior mares, among the yearling colts, the fight for medals turned out to be wholly within only one class, 4B. The order was identical as in class: Afreen Al Shaqab – unanimous gold, Aesar Alwajba and Azzaam Al Amal. So there was no surprise, although some of the audience certainly kept their fingers crossed for AB Bandar, who had the same number of points in his class as Azzaam. But oh well, great men’s favours are uncertain as the saying goes, and three votes for silver and two more for bronze were not enough to secure the title of reserve champion.

As we approached the last of the championships, excitement grew. There was no doubt that Baz Aljassimya and Fajer AA would once again face each other in the Junior Stallion Championship. What we didn’t know, however, was who would win what, although it could be assumed that Baz, who was in near-perfect form, had better prospects. And so he did – unanimously – as did Afreen three quarters of an hour earlier. Fajer finished with the bronze medal, and the silver, to the surprise of the audience, went to the little-known but quite intriguing Nesj El Jameel (EKS Farajj – Nesj El Yuliah / Ajman Moniscione), bred by Nesj Arabians and owned by Al Jumail Stud, who won his class by 0.07 points beating STA High Voltaj (Taj Raheem – Rose CME / Lark MCA), bred by Marion and Andreas Maschke and owned by Al Wajba Stud.

Everyone know the saying “to save the best for last”… As in each of the previous championships, the Senior Stallion Championship also boasted a phenomenal group of horses, including the previously mentioned celebrities, each of whom had a chance for triumph and eternal glory. For Dubai Arabian Horse Stud, this was their last chance to win gold – they had already won medals of the other two colours, but not gold, not yet at least. They were in luck! The judges decided that D Seraj was the best and in fact worthy of gold. The fate of the other two medals was uncertain until the very end, because both EKS Farajj and HL El Ganador left their individual classes with an identical score: 93.29, except that Farajj scored better for type, and Ganador higher for movement. Cosmic equilibrium, wouldn’t you say? Ultimately, type narrowly won over movement…

What comes after Paris?
One thing is certain. The attention of the Arabian horse world will shift more strongly to the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will now enjoy huge interest. Thanks to modern technology, we can always keep up to date with what is happening in every part of the world, even should we have to pull an all-nighter. There will undoubtedly be no shortage of reasons to be thrilled. In our part of the world, life will slow down a bit, as “winter is coming”, although the foaling season is about to begin in a couple of week, so we’ll be experiencing a different excitement altogether at home. And next year, we will meet at the World Championship for the second time ever in history in the Qatari capital of Doha, in a formula never seen before.