Endurance Team Gold Medalist from Bahrain Tests Positive for Banned Steroid

HorseSport.com - Full Article

France set to become the next world champions if Bahrain’s stanozolol offence is confirmed, after last month’s title race in the UAE.

By: Pippa Cuckson | March 22, 2023

Bahrain appears set to lose its World Endurance Championships team gold medal to France, following a steroids positive by its 18th placed rider.

Hera Durances, ridden by Abdulrahman Mohammed Alzayed, tested positive to the banned anabolic steroid stanozolol and its metabolite 16-beta-hydroxystanozolol, following sampling during the championship last month at Butheeb in the UAE.

A positive from one horse does not automatically result in disqualification of the whole team at a FEI world championship. However, only three of Bahrain’s five riders completed so it has no drop scores to reinstate and can no longer deliver a result.

The rider and the horse’s trainer Muhammad Abbas Khalid have been provisionally suspended from March 20...

Read more here:
https://horsesport.com/horse-news/endurance-team-gold-medalist-tests-positive-banned-steroid/

Custodian of Two Holy Mosques Endurance Cup 2023 proves AlUla’s credentials as world-class equestrian destination

Plans for a new cutting-edge permanent equestrian location confirmed post event
Activities build on area’s rich heritage, improving infrastructure and developing local capabilities

AlUla, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – March 20, 2023:

The successful staging of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Endurance Cup, the fourth edition of Saudi Arabia’s flagship endurance race, is further evidence of AlUla’s capabilities as a world-class destination for international sporting events.

The 120km event was part of the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU)’s wider equine strategy to further develop AlUla as a world-class equestrian destination which offers activities for all levels, and also builds on local capabilities and engagement with equestrian activities.

Following the event, the RCU will further develop the facilities at Fursan Village, an interim equestrian venue, ahead of the completion of the new AlMuatadil Equestrian Village, a 285-hectare dedicate equestrian area.

The Fursan Village location will be activated as a semi-permanent location with facilities including 60 climate-controlled stables with wash bays, horse walkers, lunge pens, polo arena, vet clinic, forge, warehouse, and staff accommodation for 24-hour care of horses on site.

AlMuatadil will include two arenas as well as grass polo, sand polo and endurance venues plus stable compounds and an all-weather training barn that will include Seawalker pools, treadmills and vibration plate. The village will also offer accommodation facilities for event participants and workers.

Plans are also in place for an Equine Veterinary Hospital to serve AlUla and the region, and further increase standards of welfare and care.


AlUla provided a stunning backdrop for the riders as they trained and participated in the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Endurance Cup


AlUla was the host venue for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Endurance Cup 2023


AlUla was the perfect setting for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Endurance Cup, Saudi's flagship equestrian event


Riders from 40 countries participated in this year's Endurance Cup in AlUla


The Endurance Cup showcased AlUla's equestrian credentials

Australia: Glen Innes endurance rider claims a top five finish

CanberraTimes.com.au - Full Article

By Ellen Dunger
March 17 2023

The sport of endurance has taken Jodie Salinas all around the world.

And now she's been crowned one of the globe's best.

Salinas rode in the 160 kilometre FEI Endurance World Championships in Batheed, United Arab Emirates on February 25.

From the 118 starters from 36 nations, Salinas finished fifth aboard Baroud Rio in the championship. Bahrain's Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa was the overall winner...

Read more here:
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8121859/i-hugged-his-neck-and-cried-into-his-mane-160km-in-the-desert-for-fifth-in-the-world/

Bahrain's Shaikh Nasser bags top spot in FEI endurance world rankings

GDNOnline.com - Full Article

18 March 2023

His Majesty King Hamad’s representative for humanitarian work and youth affairs and Royal Endurance Team captain Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa has earned the world number one ranking for endurance sport following a series of notable achievements, including the World Endurance Championship title and the FEI World Endurance Championship for eight-year-old horses.

The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) has published the updated classification of riders and horses involved in the endurance sport at the regional and international levels, and Shaikh Nasser topped the podium after scoring 320 points, comfortably ahead by a wide margin of second-placed Portuguese Leonor Moreira who collected 248 points. Meanwhile, Royal Endurance Team’s Jaafar Merza Abdulnabi Hassan came third with 245 points.

The ranking crowns the illustrious career of Shaikh Nasser in endurance sport...

Read more here:
https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/1207100/Shaikh-Nasser-bags-top-spot-in-FEI-endurance-world-rankings-

High five for Australia’s world endurance stars

ARR.news - Full Article

By Fran Cleland, The Regional
10 March 2023

Australia’s two riders at the FEI Endurance World Championships at Butheeb UAE finished well, with Jodie Salinas and Baroud Rio coming in fifth and Andrea Laws-King riding Heathfield’s Bin Sadaqa in 31st position.

Australia also featured in the breeding of the magnificent mare Haleh, bred in Australia by Bullio Razorback, winning individual silver.

Her rider, Salem Hamad Saeed Al Kitbi of UAE, had ridden the 12-year-old chestnut mare to win the championship in 2021.

“Haleh is a good horse, today was a very hard race, it was very hot and sandy on the course,” he said. “We are happy with the results. We wanted the team first, but it’s not our day, we’ll come back stronger...”

Read more here:
https://arr.news/2023/03/10/high-five-for-australias-world-endurance-stars/

Saudi Arabia: AlUla unveils design for new world-class equestrian village

TradeArabia.com - Full Article

RIYADH March 9 2023

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has unveiled the designs of its ambitious equestrian village in the Unesco heritage site of AlUla featuring key elements related to the sport as well as housing facilities for the visitors.

Spread over a 2.85-sq-km area, the AlMuatadil Equestrian Village will boast a main equestrian race track with a 3,000-seat capacity; an endurance race track, a grass court with a capacity of 600 seats and a sand polo field with a 400-seat capacity.

The outdoor arena can accommodate 5,000 visitors, while the indoor arena will have 1,400 seats in addition to two specialised warm-up and celebrations courts and two stable complexes that can accommodate more than 740 horses - of which 580 will be in permanent stables while the rest will be in the racing stable.

In addition, the complex will have a training ground with 600 seats, it stated...

Read more here:
http://tradearabia.com/news/CONS_407222.html

Canadians met the heat across the world

Equestrian.ca - Full Article

28 February, 2023

Where completion is an enormous feat for horse and rider, 73-year-old Canadian Robert Gielen finished in 41st place in a field of 37 countries and 129 starting combinations at the 18th edition of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) Endurance World Championships 2022 Butheeb held in the desert of Abu Dhabi (UAE) on Feb. 25, 2023.

The Championships were originally scheduled to be held in Verona, Italy in October 2022 but were postponed in September due to safety concerns at the venue and the bidding process was reopened with an extended timeframe out to April 2023.

Aboard his own ‘More Bang For Your Buck’ (Doran x Forty Thieves), a 14-year-old Arabian gelding, who earns his nickname ‘Bang’, the Flesherton, ON, native was one of two North Americans in the competition...

Read more here:
https://www.equestrian.ca/news/dDoZFGmQ6ny6XevTB/weekend-highlights-feb-24-26-canadians

Australia: Riders in the pink for fight against breast cancer

NoosaToday.com.au - Full Article

04/03/2023
by Erle Levey

We can confront a serious issue by bringing some light-hearted moments into our lives.

The McGrath Foundation has shown this with their Pink Test at Sydney Cricket Ground that was launched in 2005.

It’s a similar story with the Bony Mountain Pink Ride for Breast Cancer.

Hosted by Warwick Trail and Endurance Riders Association, this month marked 18 years of holding the charity event – with just two years missed due to wet weather.

Queensland Endurance Riders Association (QERA) president Dick Collyer said the Warwick club was formed in the late 1960s.

This year’s event was significant for a number of reasons...

Read more here:
https://noosatoday.com.au/news/04-03-2023/riders-in-the-pink-for-fight-against-breast-cancer/

Saudi Arabia: Bahrain’s Hashemi wins ‘very hard’ 120km AlUla endurance horse race

AlArabiya.net - Full Article

by Marco Ferrari, Al Arabiya English

Soft sand and warm temperatures posed challenges for riders at a 120 kilometer endurance horse race in Saudi Arabia’s AlUla on Saturday.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Bahrain’s Mohammed Hashemi, riding 11-year-old gelding Leon, won the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Endurance Cup in the ancient city of AlUla.

But four other horses from Bahrain’s royal stables did not make it to the end of the race, disqualified after failing to pass veterinary checks.

The race was “very hard,” winner Hashemi told Al Arabiya English at the podium. “The weather was hot, and the track was a little bit bad, but in the end we did what we came for...”

Read more here:
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/saudi-arabia/2023/03/04/Bahrain-s-Hashemi-wins-hard-120km-AlUla-endurance-horse-race

Van Deusen Sole American Finisher At Rescheduled FEI World Endurance Championship

FEI/Jon Stroud Photo

Chronofhorse.com - Full Article

By: Erin Harty
Mar 3, 2023 - 6:18 PM

It was a long road to Butheeb (United Arab Emirates) for the 2022 FEI World Endurance Championship, in more ways than one.

The biennial event originally was scheduled to take place in Verona, Italy, in late October 2022, but was cancelled about six weeks beforehand due to concerns about track readiness and athlete safety at the venue. The Fédération Équestre Internationale reopened the bid process, and on Nov. 10, announced that the Butheeb International Endurance Village, about an hour from Abu Dhabi, had been chosen from five countries who submitted bids to host a rescheduled championship on Feb. 25.

“We didn’t think it was going to be in UAE, out of the five possibilities [for host countries],” said Cheryl Van Deusen, a member of the U.S. teams at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games at Tryon (North Carolina) and the 2021 Longines FEI Endurance World Championship (Italy), who had been preparing to compete in Verona. “We were expecting [to compete in] March or April, we didn’t think that they would take us to Abu Dhabi.”

Considering the recent history of the sport in the UAE, whose national federation has been suspended twice in recent years (in 2015 and again in 2020) for major horse welfare concerns and running afoul of FEI rules, the idea of the country hosting an FEI championship initially met with considerable concern and skepticism. (In fact, the FEI removed the 2016 World Endurance Championship from Dubai because of horse welfare concerns; it was held in Samorin, Slovakia, instead.)

But Van Deusen, the sole member of the American team to finish at Butheeb, had high praise for the competition...

Read more here:
https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/van-deusen-sole-american-finisher-at-rescheduled-fei-world-endurance-championship

FEI to Ask Racing For Alignment Over Doping Bans

HorseSport.com - Full Article

People banned for doping in one horse sport can continue to train and ride in another; the FEI thinks it’s time for a more joined-up approach.

By Cuckson Report // Pippa Cuckson | February 24, 2023

Licensed trainers can continue to operate in one horse sport while sitting out a suspension for doping in another. But now the FEI believes it is time for some joined-up thinking and will ask racing jurisdictions if they can recognise each others’ bans.

The move follows the FEI’s latest provisional suspension of UAE endurance and thoroughbred racing trainer Ismail Mohammed since February 3. He has been suspended or fined for multiple anti-doping infringement by three different governing bodies since 2005.

Since February 3, all his registered FEI endurance horses have become ineligible to compete until 30 days after a new trainer is assigned, which includes four horses nominated for this weekend’s FEI world endurance championship in Abu Dhabi.

Yet racing rules will allow Mohammed to continue training Flat horses from his long-time bases in Dubai and Newmarket, UK. He has saddled 16 runners under Emirates Racing Authority (ERA) rules since being stood down by the FEI...

Read more here:
https://horsesport.com/cuckson-report-1/fei-ask-racing-alignment-over-doping-bans/