Breeders of Nasralla’s bloodline in Egypt are well aware of the risks they face. A significant percentage of local Straight Egyptian Arabian dealers regurgitate rumours questioning the purity of El Nasser, Nasralla’s grandsire. Personally, I was once advised to exclude Nasralla’s line from breeding, along with the lines of Sharkasi and Tahawi.
What I have observed is that those who circulate this rumour are completely unaware of its source, which is Raswan’s Index. They are also unaware of the research conducted on the origins of El Nasser, as well as the fact that El Nasser is registered with the Al Khans organization, and Nasralla is registered as Straight Egyptian Arabian.
Joe Ferriss emailed me the proposal he submitted to the Al Khamsa organization to accept El Nasser into the Al Khamsa roster.
Thank you, Joe!
Renowned breeders of Arabian and Straight Egyptian lines contributed to this proposal. They are: Joe Ferriss, Judith Forbis, Douglas B. Marshall, Henry Pharoun, Eduard Al Dahdah, August Eutermoser, Hansi Heck-Melnyk, Georg Olms, and Dr. Mohamed Marsafi.
In Joe’s proposal, there were two Arabian horses named El Nasser that raced on Egypt’s racetracks. The first El Nasser is Nasralla’s grandsire. He was owned by Henry Pharoun, then sold to Mr. Ahmed Abou El Fotouh. Eventually, the Royal Agricultural Society purchased him to use in its breeding program.
The other El Nasser was owned by Mohamed Eff. Shaarawi.
In 29/05/1970, Judith Forbis sent a letter to Dr. Mohamed El Marsafi inquiring about El Nasser RAS, whose date of birth conflicted with El Nasser listed in Carl Raswan’s Index. On 06/06/1970, Dr. Mohamed El Marsafi consulted the calendars of Egypt’s Jockey Club from 1930 to 1947. In his reply, he mentioned two Arabians named El Nasser. One of them was El Nasser, Nasralla’s grandsire, while the other was owned by Mohamed Eff. Shaarawi.
Shaarawi’s El Nasser was a six years-old Arabian, born approximately in 1930 and began his racing career in 1933/1934 at the age of four. This information can easily cause confusion, as anyone reading that entry in the calendars might mistake Shaarawi’s El Nasser with the Anglo-Arabian El Nasser, the latter who never set foot in Egypt.
I emailed Joe Ferriss requesting more information about El Nasser Shaarawi. After consulting the racing calendars, Joe replied that El Nasser Shaarawi was a CHESTNUT Arabian horse and that his color was confirmed when he was six years old.
El Nasser Shaarawi was a CHESTNUT Arabian horse .
I hope this closes another loophole that horse dealers might exploit to further their unsubstantiated claims about El Nasser pure Arabian blood.
The Horse in Word and Picture 