Sumbe signs 5-year contract to sponsor the Prix Morny

France Galop is delighted to announce that Sumbe has signed a 5-year contract as the new partner of the Prix Morny meeting. The race day is highlighted by the Prix Morny, a Group 1 race open to two-year-old colts and fillies that is run each year in the summer over the 1200m famous straight at the Deauville-La Touques racecourse in Normandy.

The new partnership will be launched on Sunday, August 20, when the 2023 Sumbe Prix Morny will be run. In addition to the Sumbe Prix Morny, the rest of the card will also be run under the Sumbe banner.

The Sumbe group is owned by Nurlan Bizakov, who breeds and owns racehorses (he also stands stallions and currently has about 50 horses in training). In addition to the historic Hesmonds Stud in England, Sumbe has two studs in France: the Haras de Monfort & Préaux (bought in 2019) and Mézeray (2021) that stretch over 350 hectares between the regions of Orne and Calvados. These stud farms are the home to four outstanding stallions: Mishriff, Golden Horde, De Treville and Recorder, together with 50 broodmares and boarders. Last year Sumbe celebrated a Group 1 victory as an owner/breeder when Belbek lifted the prestigious Qatar Prix de Jean-Luc Lagardère.

Nurlan Bizakov, owner of Sumbe, said: “It is a real pleasure to announce that Sumbe is to sponsor the Prix Morny for the next five years, marking our first partnership with France Galop. It is my first venture into sponsorship, and I am delighted to start with a stallion-making race as important as the Prix Morny. It takes place during the Deauville Barriere meeting, which attracts plenty of international attention. That fits in perfectly with our projects at Sumbe and will give us an opportunity to bring together our clients, partners, and friends from all over the world.”

Edouard de Rothschild, President of France Galop, added: “I’m delighted and honoured that the Prix Morny, a major race in the 2-year-old European programme, will now be associated with Sumbe. I would like to thank Mr Bizakov for this renewed signal of support for French racing, following his acquisition of two big studs in Normandy where he is developing his breeding operation and stands his stallions. Sumbe is a young and ambitious brand that will become a permanent fixture in the French racing landscape and France Galop is delighted to facilitate this partnership. I would also like to thank Darley, and more personally Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, for having sponsored the Prix Morny since 2005, and for having helped, alongside France Galop, to significantly increase the profile of this race on the international scene.”