Bahrain: Season-opening endurance horse race set

Gulf-Daily-News.com

THE Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef) will host the first endurance horseride of the season on November 22 at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir.

The federation, under its president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, approved the 2008/09 season calendar at its board of directors meeting. The inaugural race of the new season will be a 90-km qualifying event for young riders seeking experience in endurance races.

The first official race this year will be the National Day Championship set for December 13 and is over 120km. That will be followed by a 12km open race on January 3 next year.

Other events are the Women's Open Championship on January 31, the National Stables Championship on February 7, His Majesty King Hamad Cup on March 7, the Crown Prince Cup race on April 3 and the Season-Ending Championship on May 1.

Meanwhile, the Breef members also discussed the showjumping season and confirmed the schedule of its events. The showjumping season will get underway on November 7 with the Season Starting Championship, to be followed by the National Day Championship on December 19, then the Breef Cup on February 13.

In other competitions, the Arab League round for His Majesty King Hamad Cup will be held from February 19 to 22, the second Breef Cup on March 27 and the Season Ending Championship on March 10 and 11.

The federation also decided to form a marketing committee to promote its programmes and activities. The committee, to be headed by Shaikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa, will start looking for sponsors to support the federation this season.

The meeting was also attended by Breef first vice-president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, second vice-president Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, general secretary Ghalib Al Alawi, assistant general secretary Dr Khalid Hassan, public relations head Faisal Al Ajmi and members Tawfeeq Salehi, Haider Al Zo'bi, Mahmood Abdulsaheb and Fahad Al Rumaihi.