Bahrain: BREEF Ready for HM the King's Cup

BNA.bh

21/02/2013

Manama, Feb. 21. (BNA) – The Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef) has finalised all arrangements ahead of the King's Cup Endurance Ride Championship tomorrow.
The most prestigious and awaiting endurance ride of the season is set to take place at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir and is over 120km.

It will be divided into five stages, commencing with 30km for the first stage. It will be followed by a similar 30km distance for the second, while each of the remaining three stages will be over 20km.

There's also a second race on Saturday, an 80km qualifying ride which is open for juniors. It comprises three stages, including 30km each for the first and second stages, and concludes with a 20-km stage.

The veterinary examination is scheduled for today from 3.30pm to 5pm at the veterinary area inside the village.

Examination will be conducted by a team of experienced veterinary commission, headed by Yassine Motemri of Tunisia. Foreign veterinary delegate is Mohammed Al Hammad of Saudi Arabia.

Veterinarian members include Jean Marc of Belgium, Piotr Szpotanski and Wojciech Piekalkiewicz of Poland, Oman's Hadi Al Lawati and Khalid Al Ruziaiqi and India's C V Niranjan.

Other members are Zahid Rafiq of Pakistan, Bahrain's Ebrahim Yousif, Sab ah Al Kabie, Abu Obaidah Yacoob, Abdulrahman Abu Shook and Saudi Arabia's Hassan Hashim.

The treatment veterinarians are Fareeda Abdulrazq of Bahrain and Caonabo Melo of the Dominican Republic.

Maximum allowed weight for the rider is 75kg, including the saddle, for the 120km ride. The allowed weight for the 80km event participants is 70kg, also with the saddle.

The organising committee, headed by Breef president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, has formed the ground jury.

Denis Kevin Croke of Ireland was named President of Ground Jury, with Ghalib Al Alawi, Mahdi Al Kalati, Fahad Al Rumaihi and Ali Ghuloom being members.
Mohammed Dadulla is the foreign technical delegate, Haider Al Zubi is the chief steward and Abdulla Al Rumeihi was appointed race steward. Sudip Sankar is the show secretary.

Meanwhile, riders from Bahrain and the UAE resumed preparations yesterday as they hope to pull off an outstanding win tomorrow.

To be led by Royal Team captain Shaikh Nasser, Bahrain's riders are likely to face a stern challenge from their UAE counterparts.

Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, the Dubai Crown Prince, will be leading a strong field of UAE riders in tomorrow's big event. The UAE riders arrived yesterday and will be training and the endurance village today.

Breef endurance committee head Shaikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa affirmed the federation readiness for the season's much-awaited endurance championship.

Shaikh Daij said he believes that the King's Cup ride will live up to the occasion, welcoming the UAE riders who have come from different stables to participate.

On his part, Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa of Bahrain's Al Fateh Stable said the race promises to be a high-paced event and will unarguably produce one of the most exciting competition among some of the region's prominent riders.

WHQ