UAE: Mohammad to lead strong line-up

By M Satya Narayan, Staff Reporter
Published: February 26, 2009, 23:06

Dubai: 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, will be part of a strong line-up of riders for tomorrow's (Saturday's) Endurance Giants Challenge.

Tomorrow's event is the third and final leg of the three-round challenge, the first of which was held in Abu Dhabi, the second in Bahrain.

Shaikh Mohammad, who won the second leg in Bahrain, earned 100 points for that win and is joint leader with Shaikh Mansour after the first two rounds.

Shaikh Mohammad had finished fifth in the first round for which he earned 50 points and now has a cumulative total of 150 points, the same as Shaikh Mansour.

Shaikh Mansour, who was second (80 points) in the first round, secured another 60 for his fourth place finish in Bahrain and also earned 10 bonus points for riding the same horse in the first two rounds.

Bahrain's Shaikh Nasser, who has tallied 140 points (60+80) is third. Abdullah Bin Huzaim of the UAE had won the opening round.

Tomorrow's ride will be held at the Dubai International Endurance City, which will also see a Ladies Ride being worked off today. The 90-km ride has attracted a sizable number of entries and the winner will receive a car while there is also cash prize on offer for those who finish at the top.

The Endurance Giants Challenge ride gets off to a mass start at 6.00 am tomorrow and all participating riders must weigh at least 75kgs without riding equipment. The points accumulated over the three rounds will decide the overall champion.

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