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ENDURANCE
SEASON KICK STARS ON NOV. 1 |
After the summer break and the Ramadan and Id festivities, the
UAE endurance season will kick start for the year on Saturday
November 1, 2008, with the staging of the FEI 100 km ride for
Juniors and Young riders. The day will also feature two
Federation Qualifiers 40km and 80 km respectively.
The UAE endurance season for the year is promising to be a
hectic one with several national and international rides being
planned along with rides for juniors and young riders, owners
of local stables and also exclusive rides for ladies.
After the World endurance Championship which is slated to be
held in Malaysia on November 7 and 8, 2008, in which six UAE
riders will be participating, endurance riding will start off
briskly in the UAE on November 15, 2008 with FEI, 120-km ride
scheduled to be held at the Emirates international Endurance
Village, Al Wathba. Dubai Endurance City will open its doors
for the season with FEI 120-km ride on Saturday, November 29,
2008. The rides will be held in Emirates International
Endurance Village, Al Wathba, Bou Thieb Endurance Village, Al
Khatem, Al Asayel Endurance Village, Sweihan and Dubai
International Endurance City, Seih Assalem, Dubai.
Some of the eagerly awaited rides of the season include the
National Day Cup, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup,
Sheikh Rashid bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Challenge (Two Rounds),
Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al MAktoum Challenge (Two Rounds),
Sheikh Saeed bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup, three-day 240-km
Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan Endurance Cup, which is part
of the Endurance Festival held annually in Bou Theib Endurance
Village, His Highness The President Cup for Junior and Young
Riders, His Highness The President Cup Open ride, His Highness
The President Cup for Ladies, FEI Ladies Challenge (in three
Rounds) and the FEI GCC Ladies Championship (which is making
its debut this year). Most of the days will be featuring
Federation Qualifiers to enable junior and young riders to
participate in rides of longer distances.
Taleb Dhaher Al Muhairi, who took over as the Secretary
General of the UAE Equestrian Federation, recently expressed
the hope that the current season will be as successful as the
earlier ones. He said that the UAE endurance rides had
attracted a huge number of participants including UAE and GCC
nationals and expatriates. He said continuous cooperation
between those involved in the rides and strong support from
the sponsors made the rides successful in the country.
2007-2008 season
It is imperative to mention here that the 2007-2008 season too
was eventful.
As many as 68 rides kept the organizers busy throughout the
period. The rides included 25 FEI rides, several open rides,
rides exclusively for ladies and Federation Qualifiers. Of the
25 FEI rides, a total number of six rides were held at the
Emirates International Endurance Village, six in Seih Assalem,
Bou Theib Endurance Village played host to nine whereas four
rides were held at Al Asayel Endurance Centre.
As many as 2,837 horses started in the rides, including
qualifying rounds and rides for ladies, covering a total
distance of 5,904 km in all. The number of finishers was 1,226
amounting to 43.21 per cent completion. As many as 1,611
horses were eliminated out of which 973 for lameness, 391 for
metabolic reasons, 180 horses retired, 22 disqualified, 542
were presented in vet clinics and 435 were treated.
The endurance department issued new licenses to 528 horses,
560 riders and 43 trainers during the season.
Some of the highlights of the domestic season include
• Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri from Al Wathba Stables rewriting
world history in speed for 120-km endurance ride when he
finished the National Day Cup in a record timing of 4 hours,
32 minutes and 46 seconds. Riding seven-year-old bay gelding
Cupid, Ali Khalfan finished the five-loop ride on an average
speed of 26.40 kmph. The National Day Cup, sponsored by
Nakheel, was held on December 15, 2007, at the Emirates
International Endurance Village, Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi and
featured a good number of 112 riders.
• A three-day Endurance Festival, HH Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed
Al Nahyan International Festival for Endurance, organized by
the Bou Theib Endurance Village, in cooperation with the UAE
Equestrian and Racing Federation, from January 3-5, 2000 at
the Bou Theib Endurance Village, was a huge success.
• An endurance ride for persons with special needs was held at
Emirates International Endurance Village, under the
sponsorship of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of
Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the EIEV.
• The Dubai Equestrian Club hosted the world’s richest-ever
endurance ride, the His Highness Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al
Maktoum Endurance Cup 2008. The coveted prize set aside for
the winners was worth Dh four billion with the first placed
winner riding away with Dh 250,000.
• A FEI judges course for women and men was held at the Al
Asayel Endurance Village, Sweihan, Abu Dhabi on February 10
and 11 respectively and was directed by FEI Endurance Chief
Ian Williams.
* Shamsah Awad Al Otaiba won the third and the final round of
His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan Challenge
endurance ride for ladies while Afra Khalifa Al Suwaidi
finished fourth on Waterlea Tuppence to win the overall
championship. The ride held on March 7, 2008, at the Al Asayel
Endurance Village, Sweihan, Abu Dhabi, featured 20 lady
riders. Afra won a car worth Dh 150,000. This was the second
consecutive year that a Ladies Challenge was held at the Al
Asayel Endurance Village and this year the rides were
sponsored by Hydra Properties.
* Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown
Prince of Dubai, won the H.H. The President of the United Arab
Emirates Cup endurance ride on February 16, 2008. The ride
which was held at the Emirates International Endurance Village
featured 87 riders and as many as 22 riders completed the
distance.
The race was attended by His Highness Sheikh Mohammad bin
Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the
UAE and Ruler of Dubai; Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance and Industry
and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of
Presidential Affairs. The Dh1.5 million ride was sponsored by
Hydra Properties and Emirates NBD.
•Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown
Prince of Dubai, tasted another triumph when he led a 1-2-3
finish in the 120-km His Highness The King's Cup Endurance
Ride Championship held in December 2007 at the Bahrain
International Endurance Village in Sakhir. Sheikh Hamdan, also
won the 120-km FEI CEI three-star Qatar International
Endurance Cup held in Doha, Qatar, in March this year. |
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