Bahrain: 50 riders set for endurance ride

Gulf-daily-news.com

December 01, 2012

MORE than 50 riders will vie for glory today in the Breef National Endurance Ride for local stables at Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir.

Commencing at 6.30am, the 100-km ride is being organised by Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef).

Participants from 10 stables and riding centres will be competing in the first event of the 2012/13 season.

Royal Endurance Team, captained by Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, will head into this race as clear favorites.

Other riders in the team are Eulaia Guardia, Ghazi Al Doseri, Alex Moral, Isa Al Hazza and Gurden Singh.

The remaining stables in the fray are Ahmed Al Fateh, Al Shawamek, Al Muqheerat, Al Ajiyal, Saar Riding School, Khalid Al Ruwaie, Yusuf Ali Taher, Al Riffain and Al Asayel.

Al Asayel stable with 16 riders have the highest number of participants. They include Abdulla Al Khatiri, Khamis Ahmed, Salem Sabt, Khalif Mubarak, Yousif Ahmed, Faisal Al Manea and Saud Al Hadrami.

The race will be divided into four stages, starting with 30 kms for the first. It will be followed by another 30 kms for the second while the third and fourth stages will be over 20 kms each.

Qualifying

The 2012-13 season got underway with an 80-km qualifying ride, organised earlier this month with its main objective being to prepare the riders for upcoming races.

The federation, under the presidency of Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, has completed all preparations for this race.

The veterinary examination took place yesterday at Endurance Village under the watchful eyes of the veterinary commission, headed by president Dr Ebrahim Yousif.

Other commission officials are foreign veterinary delegate Dr Mohammed Al Hammad of Saudi Arabia, members Dr Abbas Al Haiki, Dr Sabah Al Kabie, Dr Abdelrahman Abu Shook and Dr Abu Obaidah Yaqoob.

Bahrain's Dr Fareeda Abdulrazaq and Dr Caonabo Melo of the Dominican Republic are the treatment veterinarians while Mir Ghani is the village laboratory technician.

The organising committee also elected the Ground Jury for the race. It includes president Ghalib Al Alawi and three members - Ali Ghuloom Hussain, Mahdi Al Kalaiti and Fahad Al Romaihi.

Mohammed Dadulla is the foreign technical delegate, Haider Zubi was appointed chief steward while the ride steward is Abdulla Al Rumaihi.

Shaikh Khalid welcomed all stables taking part in the second ride of the season, which he believes will see a grueling competition. He said the race is expected to be fast-paced and an opportunity for participants to try out new tactics.

The Breef president expressed gratitude to Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, chaired by Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, for its continuous support to the federation.

He also thanked federation officials, who have been working hard to prepare for the new season, and wished everyone success.