[WEC Reports] Bahrain Riders set for top showdown

Gulf-daily-news.com

6th November 2008

SHAIKH Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa will arrive in Malaysia today for the World Endurance Horseride Championship scheduled for tomorrow at the Terengganu International Endurance Park in Terengga.

Shaikh Nasser, the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef) president, and Shaikh Khalid, who is the Breef first vice-president, will lead a six-member Bahrain Royal Endurance team in this night race set to be flagged off at 12noon (Bahrain time).

The other four Bahraini riders are Yousif Taher, Ghazi Al Dossary, Raed Mahmood and Ahmed Abdulla.

The team is being coached by Shaikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa while Dr Khalid Hassan is the team manager.

The Bahrainis will be among 140 riders representing 34 countries from across the world who are taking part in this challenging event to be run over 160kms.

Among top countries in the fray are the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Australia, Canada, Portugal, South Africa, Sweden and the US.

Besides Bahrain, the other GCC countries in the fray are the UAE, Oman and Qatar.

The race will be divided into seven stages - 28 kms for the first, 27 kms for the second, 28 kms for the third, 27 kms for the fourth, 23 kms for the fifth, 18 kms for the sixth while the seventh and last stage is over 10 kms.

This will be Bahrain's third appearance in the World Championship scince their debut in the 2005 edition in Dubai. They then took part in the 2006 championship in Akhn, Germany.

This time the Bahrainis are eying a podium finish in this prestigious $200,000 championship which features teams and individual races.

Overall

The overall winner will claim $22,000 while the runner-up receives $16,000. The third and fourth placed runners will get $13,000 and $11,000 respectively.

In the teams category, the winners receive $22,400 while the runners-up get $19,200. The third and fourth placed teams will receive $14,400 and $12,000 respectively.

The owner of the horse 'with the best condition' will receive $20,000.

The Bahraini riders yesterday underwent a pre-ride inspection which was followed by 'weighing in'.

A prize-distribution ceremony is scheduled for Sunday.

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Posted By Merri to WEC Reports at 11/06/2008 04:19:00 AM