Sunday, January 28, 2007

Qatar: Bahraini rider in third place



SHAIKH Mohammed bin Khalid bin Saqer Al Khalifa of Al Fateh Stable made a superb international debut by taking third place overall in the junior category of the 12-km GCC Endurance Horseride Championship held in Doha yesterday.
Riding Valentino, the young Bahraini crossed the finish line in six hours, 16 minutes 39 seconds among 30 riders from across the Gulf region who took part in the event which was won by Qatar's Mohammed Al Mirri of Al Shaqab Stable riding Bentley.
Second was Abdulrahman Mohammed, another Qatari rider who steered Jawab who is owned by Shaikh Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Thani.
The race was divided into five stages, starting with 30km for the first two stages, 25km for the third, 20km for the fourth and 15km for the fifth.
Shaikh Mohammed was one of three Bahrainis who participated in the junior race. The remaining two were Shaikh Saqer bin Khalid Al Khalifa and Mohammed Abdulsamad.
In the senior section, five Bahraini riders were in the fray. They were Shaikh Salman bin Saqer Al Khalifa, Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa, Abdulrahman Al Saad, Jaffer Mirza and Ali Bosafar.
Shaikh Mohammed said he was delighted over this result on his maiden international appearance.
Shaikh Mohammed dedicated the victory to Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa who supported him at the race.
Shaikh Mohammed confirmed that the level of competition at the race was high and he did not expect to take a podium finish. But he was proud to make up for the disappointing results of the other Bahraini riders in this category.
In the senior race, all five Bahraini entrants were unable to complete the race which was also over 120km and split into five stages of similar distances.
Meanwhile, Shaikh Nasser congratulated Shaikh Mohammed on taking third place in the race, saying that it was a well-earned result for Shaikh Mohammed who performed well throughout the race.
Gulf Daily News article

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