Bahrain: Night Endurance Race

ROYAL Endurance Team will enter tomorrow's 100km Endurance Horseride Championship as top favourites as the final race of the season will get underway at 5pm at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir. The championship, being sponsored by Zain-Bahrain and co-sponsored by GPIC, will be the second successive night race to be held due to the hot weather conditions.

The Royal Team, coached by Abdulhaq Qadoori and Abdulrahman Abdullatif, will be led by Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and consist of top local riders.

Among prominent riders for the Royal Team are Ghazi Al Dossary, Raed Mahmood, Ahmed Abdulla and Jaffer Mirza who are all keen to clinch a podium finish.

Taking part in the race are riders from leading stables in Bahrain, including Al Khaldiya Stable captain Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who won the 120km Championship for the Crown Prince Cup held 10 days ago.

Among overseas riders to be in the fray are the Kingdom Stable women's team who arrived in Bahrain last week with team manager Najeeb Burjus heading the delegation.

Meanwhile, the organising committee has approved four stages for the race. The first two stages will be over 30km each, the third stage will be 25km and the fourth and last stage 15km.

Veterinary examination is set for tomorrow at 3pm and will continue for two hours at the veterinary area. Maximum weight allowed for each horse is 80kg.

The technical and judging committee was also confirmed. It is being headed by Abdulsamad Al Busta and consists of Ghalib Al Alawi, Mahdi Hassan, Ali Ghuloom, Mohammed Dadulla and Haider Al Zo'bi.

Official commissioner is Mohammed Abdulsahen while Fahad Al Rumaihi will be his assistant. Haider Rafii was named official technical commissioner.