Bahrain: First of Grand Prix Series at Al Wathba

The first rides of the 120-km Grand Prix series will be held this Saturday. His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Presidential Affairs, head a strong list of riders in the 120-km Giants Endurance Challenge to be held on Saturday at Emirates International Endurance Village in Al Wathba. This event will be the first in a three-round 120-km rides promoted by Bahrain's Shaikh Nasser, who will also be participating. The second event will be held in Dubai, and the third and final will be in Bahrain. The championship was recently announced by Breef president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa at a Press conference held at Banyan Tree premises in Sakhir. "This is a new idea of having Grand Prix endurance races like in the Formula One and it's just a beginning to have two countries hosting three different rounds," said Shaikh Nasser who confirmed his participation in this prestigious event. "We are planning to have this championship on an annual basis and hopefully more countries will be included in the future," said Shaikh Nasser. Shaikh Nasser said Breef will be inviting top officials and riders from all over the world as either participants or guests to witness this year's event. He added that this year's championship is expected to finish before March. The Breef chief said the rider to accumulate the highest number of points at the end of three rounds will be crowned overall champion. "It doesn't matter if you take part in one, two or all three races to win this competition. The idea is to get more points to become the champion," added Shaikh Nasser. "The Grand Prix is open to all riders of all nationality. All are welcome to take part," he said. In this specialised category of riding, every rider must weight 75 kgs or above without riding equipment and must be registered with the International Equestrian Federation (FEI). Shaikh Nasser said the federation decided to organise this championship after it was approved by the FEI last year.

photos: Press conference announcing Grand Prix competition