Bahrain: Shaikha Maryam in fine victory

Gulf-daily-news.com

Sunday, December 25, 2011

SHAIKHA Maryam bint Ahmed bin Hamad Al Khalifa raced to victory in the National Day Endurance Horse Ride held yesterday.

Riding Kattar, the Royal Endurance team member completed this challenging 120-km ride on top with a total ride time of four hours, 52 minutes and 22 seconds with an average speed of 24.627-km per hour.

Behind her was Al Khaldiya Stable captain Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa (5:11:10) in second place while Al Fateh Stable's Nasser Khalifa Abdulla (5:32:26) came third on Prince.

More than 50 riders competed in the second event of the season, which took place at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir.

Open for senior riders, the ride was closely contested with some of Bahrain's top riders from various stables in the fray.

The five-stage ride got underway with Shaikh Khalid, the Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation president, taking the lead after the 30-km first stage in 1:11:50.

He was followed by Shaikha Maryam (1:12:45) and Abdulla (1:21:34) who were second and third, respectively.

No changes on overall positions were witnessed after the second stage, which was also over 30 kms, as Shaikh Khalid held on to his lead after completing the stage in 1:11:35 and an average speed of 24.150-km per hour.

Shaikha Maryam (1:12:15) maintained composure to stay in second place, and Abdulla (1:21:57) remained third.

Shaikh Khalid managed to keep his lead after the 25-km third stage, clocking 1:01:18 and ahead of Shaikha Maryam (1:01:23) and Abdulla (1:11:31) who were respectively second and third.

Superb

But in the fourth stage, which was over 20 kms, Shaikha Maryam put on a superb show to take over the lead from Shaikh Khalid and finished the stage in 53 minutes and 36 seconds. Shaikh Khalid, who timed 1:01:16, slipped to second for the first time.

An additional 85-km qualifier for inexperienced riders was also held yesterday.

It was won by Royal Endurance Team member Abdulla Mohammed Al Arjani in three hours, 57 minutes and 15 seconds with an average speed of 21.496-km per hour. Second was Mohammed Abdulnabi Ramadan (3:59:20) of Al Fateh Stable while Nehat Singh (4:09:26) of Al Muntaser Stable rounded off the podium.

The rides were followed by an awarding ceremony which was attended by Supreme Council for Youth and Sports chairman and president of the Bahrain Olympic Committee Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khaifa who honoured the top three riders in each event.

The honouring ceremony was also attended by Breef Endurance Committee chairman Shaikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa who congratulated the winners and wished other riders success in future championships.


Photos by Osama Mohammed here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/112590388649341553131/BahrainNationalDayEndurance122411