UAE: Al Kamda stables score 1-2 finish

Gulfnews.com

By M Satya Narayan
March 07, 2009

Abu Dhabi: Ahmad Saeed Al Kamda and his 10-year-old chestnut gelding Al Galyb HCF made it two out of two when they won Saturday's Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Challenge 2 100-km endurance ride at the Dubai International Endurance City.

The 25-year-old was, infact, delighted as another horse from the Al Kamda Stables, Jeelan, under Mansour Ebrahim Ahmad Esmail finished second to complete a 1-2 for the private stable.

Both finished hand-in-hand, Al Kamda just a second ahead of Esmail - and this time both horses cleared the final veterinary check.

On January 24, Saeed and his brother Rashid had finished in similar fashion on Al Galyb HCF and Jeelan but the latter was disqualified in the final vet check.

In yesterday's ride, a total of 72 started, but right from the start it was Esmail, closely followed by Al Kamda, who led. The pair were ahead after each of the first three loops of 32km, 29km and 27km. It was only in the final loop that Al Kamda forged ahead and registered his second consecutive career win with Al Galyb HCF.

The pair also bettered their previous best timing of 4 hrs 6 minutes and 19 seconds recorded in Al Wathba, when they clocked 3 hrs 59mins and 40 seconds yesterday.

Hamad Ebrahim Abdullah Al Marzouqi, who had won the Round 1 of the Challenge with Tiramisu 2, was again in fine form when he rode into third place while Abdul Aziz Al Redha was fourth on Mystic Dream.

Ali Moosa Al Khamiri, general manager of Dubai Equestrian Club, presented the winner Al Kamda with the keys to a gleaming Nissan Patrol 4WD car while Esmail and Al Marzouqi got Dh50,000 and Dh45,000.