YoungRiders: Bahrain?s Fahed is world champ

SAKHIR, Bahrain: Fahed Sulaiman gave Bahrain a belated National Day gift by winning the FEI World Endurance Championships for Juniors and Young Riders in convincing fashion here yesterday.

In the team competition, Australia were first with France and Brazil finishing second and third respectively.

Fahed finished the gruelling 120km race in 5hrs38min.07secs , ahead of the powerful UAE duo of Sheikh Abdullah bin Faisal al-Qassimi and Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Maktoum who claimed the second and third spots at the Endurance Village on the outskirts of Manama.
Sheikh Abdullah, riding Colahlee Park Charlene, timed 5:38.51, while the third placed Sheikh Ahmed clocked 5:53.51 on Jazyk, a chestnut gelding.
Fahed, riding Lomar Lorrein, a seven-year-old grey mare, was placed third at the end of the first and second vet gate, but improved to second at the third and made up enough time to finish first after the fourth and fifth stages to emerge champion.

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Bahraini Equestrian Makes it at World Endurance Championship

date: 17 12, 2005


Manama, Dec. 17, (BNA) HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, watched Bahrain Equestrian, Fahd Sulaiman snatching the World Junior Endurance Championship for the first time in the event's history.
The world-class victory made by the Bharaini equestrian coincided with Bahrain's celebrations of the National Day and HM's accession to the throne. Fahd, Sulaiman, one of the Endurance junior champions outdid 140 male and female equestrians from all over the globe at the 120- kilometer race held on Saturday. The Champion, Fad Sulaiman was congratulated for the achievement by HM the King who has been keen to watch Bahraini equestrians since the kick off the race at 5.00 p.m. which was signaled by GOYS President, Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, the Head of the Organizing Committee. Fahd, aged 14, who rode Lumir Loryan for Shaikh Faisal bin Rashid Al Khalifa, is regarded one of the outstanding endurance equestrians in the Kingdom of Bahrain. While congratulating equestrian Fahd, HM the King valued the achievement, tipping it "historic" as the Bahraini equestrian secured the first position after 5 hours 38.o7 minutes, followed by Shaikh Faisal Al Qasimi from the UAE in the second place and in the third place Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Rashid Al Maktoum from the UAE, followed consecutively by Belgium's and Australia's equestrians. The victory was billed by Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa a historic moment for the Kingdom of Bahrain, hailing HM the King's encouragement of the Endurance sport. Shaikh Nasser secured the 7th place in the race but Shaikh Khalid left the competition during the second stage due to the injury of his horse. As to Shaikha Najla'a bint Salman bin Saqr, she came fifth recording 6.07.25 hours. at the level of teams, Australia came first, France second, Brazil third and Bahrain fourth.

Bahrain woman rider aims high

BAHRAIN'S national endurance team rider and the only woman in the team Shaikha Najla bint Salman bin Saqer Al Khalifa will start today's 120-km Gulf Energy World Junior Endurance Championship, starting at 5am at the Endurance Village in Sakhir, with ambitous plans of making a podium finish.

"I want to do my best and help my team finish in the top three," said Shaikh Najla, who is the only woman in the 12-member Bahrain team taking part in the race.

Thirty teams with 140 riders start the race in this prestigious event.

"It is an honour for me as a girl to represent my Kingdom at this prestigious event," said Shaikha Najla.

"I have prepared for this championship for quite a long time and I am now eager to prove myself."

Shaikha Najla has been training under her coach and father Shaikh Salman bin Saqer Al Khalifa at the Al Fateh Stable in Sakhir.

She thanked His Majesty King Hamad for his unlimited support to equestrian sports in general and endurance races in particular.

The Bahraini team will be captained by Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef) president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa who arrived yesterday and paid a visit to the village.

Other team members are Breef first vice-president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Mohammed Abdulsamad, Abdulaziz Adam, Salem Al Otaibi, Ahmed Hassan, Shaikh Saqer bin Khalid Al Khalifa, Maytham Ahmed, Ebrahim Al Jebouri, Mohammed Abdulaziz and Fahad Sulaiman.

Rising rider Mohammed Abdulsamad said he is confident of putting up a good performance in the race after having a useful training programme.

"There are teams of top class riders taking part in the championship but for us nothing is impossible. We will do our best and hope to be among the top by end of the race," he said.

The Abdulaziz brothers, Mohammed and Ahmed, said they are keen to put up a good show in today's race.

"Being here with top riders from around the world is a big challenge for us. I have gained some experience from taking part in regional and international races for the last couple of years and I am quite confident of accompalishing a good result," said Mohammed who is the eldest of the two.

Excited

On his part, Ahmed said he is very excited to go head-to-head with some of the finest riders from across the world in such a prestigious event.

"I have been training twice a day and now I am 100 per cent fit for this race. I am also happy with the condition of the course which is very convenient," he said.

Five Arab countries - including favourites the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain - will be among the teams competing in today's race.

Meanwhile, Jordanian Royal Equestrian Federation president Princess Alya bint Al Hussain arrived in Bahrain yesterday to attend the race. She was welcomed on arrival by General Organisation for Youth and Sports president and Organising Committee chairman Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and other officials.

The UAE's Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum also arrived yesterday and was welcomed on arrival by Shaikh Nasser.

Breef's endurance committee chairman Shaikh Faisal bin Rashid Al Khalifa yesterday received Qatar Equestrian Federation's endurance committee chairman Shaikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani.

A total of 45 jurors and veterinarians have been assigned by the International Equestrian Federation to supervise today's race. The jury panel is headed by its president Carol Bunting of Britain and includes jurors from Bahrain, Jordan, Italy, France, Holland, Ireland, India, the UAE and Qatar.

"Sixteen of the most experienced juries are in Bahrain since the last couple of days making sure everything goes as planned," said Robertson.

The FEI also selected 29 veterinarians from the UK, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Spain, Australia, Poland, Italy, Portugal, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the US, India, Belgium, Dominican Republic and Bahrain.

The Bahraini veterinarians are Dr Fareeda Abdulrazzaq, Dr Adam Ubeida, Dr Sabah Al Kabie, Dr Abdulrehman Tejani, Dr Ebrahim Yousif and Dr Abbas Al Haiki.

British riders begin contest for desert gold

5 December, 2005

Britain?s Endurance Young Riders start their campaign at the FEI World Young Rider Championships in Bahrain.
Six experienced young British endurance riders will today attend the opening ceremony of the FEI World Young Rider Championships in Bahrain.



The Team flew out two weeks ago and have acclimatised well to the fierce Middle-Eastern temperatures. A purpose built venue in Sakhir has been provided for the horses and riders with full accommodation for the 500 people and 35 officials involved. Vet tests and briefings will take place tomorrow before the competition gets underway on Saturday (17 December).



?Acclimatisation will be the biggest single difficulty?, said Endurance GB international chairman Maggie Maguire before the team left for Bahrain. ?The British-based horses will be used to winter conditions.?



A thorough training programme took place over the year and the Endurance GB team places were fiercely contested. The final six were selected in September.



Zara Moon and Philip Hirst will both be representing Britain for a second time. Moon, who is last year's EGB overall champion, will be partnering her International horse Yamavah. Dubai-based Hirst will be riding his mother's Vlaq Khamul.



Anna Williams is another experienced team member, who has represented Britain on two previous occasions. Wiliams will be partnering the eight-year-old H S Saboteur, who completed his first 120km in one day at Cirencester 2005. Alice Beet from Surrey will be riding Harmatan de Lozere, who she qualified in Dubai last year, and Gemma Parkin, from Derbyshire will be riding Lutandorvici.



Abigail Lockett, from Stafford has been selected with the experienced Delorto Zaranz, who has already competed abroad at Wicklow Hills 1999 and was at the WEG in Jerez in 2002. Winscombe-based Rachel Harvey is a non-travelling reserve with Sarah Ryson's Prince Imperial.



?All the young riders are excellent,? Maguire says. ?They have all had a lot of success.?



When the competition gets underway on Saturday, more than 150 competitors from 33 different countries will journey 120km through the desert during the course of one day. ?Consistent cantering in a rhythm is the key to conserving energy,? said Maggie Maguire, ?In this country rides often require lots of stopping and starting but in the desert you can pretty much canter the whole ride?.



Each of Endurance GB's riders has completed at least one 120km endurance ride since November last year and are accustomed to pacing distances according to the physical build of their horse and the terrain and weather conditions.



They will all use heart monitors to check the conditions of their horse throughout the course of the Championship ride and will be required to present their horse to the vet at various set intervals to be checked as fit to continue.

?It is a considerable test,? Maguire explains, ?It is all about doing it within the capabilities of the horse?.



The team will be given advice by team vet Adam Driver who has spent the last two winters in Dubai and who understands the conditions and the impact they have on foreign horses.



?The return flights are expected on the 19th when we hope some gold from the sands will be on board with them?, said a spokesperson for Endurance GB.

Shaikh Ahmed to ride in today?s National Day Cup

By Amith Passela

15 December 2005


ABU DHABI ? The 2002 FEI World Equestrian Endurance Champion Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Maktoum takes a crack at today?s National Day Cup before heading to Bahrain for Saturday?s FEI World Endurance Championship for Junior and Young Riders.

Shaikh Ahmed, 18, lead?s a strong six-member UAE team after missing out on his senior title defence in Dubai last year due to illness. He will be an obvious favourite for the Bahrain event that has drawn a record 33 countries and for the first time is being staged in the Middle East.

Shaikh Ahmed was slated to ride 11-year-old Arabian gelding Rafail Stormy Petrel in the First Gulf Bank sponsored CEI Three-Star race run over 120 kilometres here at the Emirates International Endurance Village in Al Wathba.

Shaikh Ahmed will have the company of his elder brother Shaikh Hamdan, who is set to ride seven-year-old mare Ro Fantasia. They have had a lot of success both at international and domestic competitions to start among the favourites for today?s prize.

The National Day Cup was run in Dubai last year as a prelude to the 2004 FEI World Championship. General Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence, and Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Presidential Affairs, were declared joint winners of that ride.

Shaikh Hamdan and Shaikh Ahmed will face the strongest challenge from the in-form Al Reef and host Al Wathba Stables from the field of over 100 entries.

Al Reef is on song. They have made a clean sweep of the season?s four rides, including the two races for Juniors and Young Riders, and would be looking to extend their winning streak by grabbing the first of the two big endurance silverwares in Abu Dhabi.

They have nominated the biggest list of entries led by Yousef Ahmed Al Bloushi, who has won both the senior rides of the new season.

Yousef?s stable companion Abdulla Khamis Ali Saeed has a fantastic record in this race to be another front-runner for the coveted prize.

Yousef will be astride 13-year-old gelding Spoutnik and Abdulla Khamis onboard nine-year-old grey Peoria Valediction.

Al Wathba?s lead-man Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri hasn?t had the desired results so far, but can strike when spearheads the home challenge on nine-year-old mare Nuit Fauve, a daughter of flat race horse sire Nuits St Georges.

Ali Al Muahiri and Mubarak Khalifa bin Shafya have definite chances of claiming a share of the prize provided a trouble free run, and so are the Dubai based Spanish quartet of Shaikh Mohammed endurance training wing Antonio Moreno, Eduard Pou Fabrego, Jaume Punti Dachs and Maria Alvarez.

Rebecca and Stefanie Arnold have flown in from Germany, and Janice Worthington from the US, to be among the UAE based international riders that include Iona Rossely of Ireland, Australian Adrian Brickly, Abdul Hafiz Al Turkomani of Saudi Arabia and a number of Asian and Arab expatriates from the endurance stables.

The race scheduled at 6.15am will be run over five loops of 32km, 30km, 24km, 18km and 16km. Some stages of the race will take the riders through forest areas for the first time in the redesigned loops. The top 10 riders to finish will share a purse of Dh 600,000.

UAE team for Bahrain

By A Correspondent

15 December 2005


DUBAI ? A six-member endurance team has been provisionally chosen to take part in the FEI World Endurance Championship for Juniors and Young Riders (CH-M-E-JYR) to be held at Bahrain International Endurance Village premises in Sakir, Bahrain, on Saturday.

The championship is being organised by the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation under the supervision of International Equestre Federation, FEI.

The first day will feature a number of official meetings and will be followed by an opening ceremony and a dinner banquet in honour of the participating countries. The second day will include veterinary tests and a meeting during which participants will be briefed about the race rules, regulations and route.

The main ride, which is a 120-km event, will be run on Saturday in five stages of 30km, 30km, 25km, 20km and 15km respectively.

The members of the UAE team include Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Shaikh Majid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Shaikh Juma Dalmook Al Maktoum, Shaikh Khalid bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Shaikh Abdullah bin Faisal Al Qasimi and Rashid Saeed Al Kamda.

Shaikh Ahmed will ride eight-year-old chestnut gelding Jazyk, Shaikh Majid will partner nine-year-old bay gelding Orkawa, Shaikh Juma will ride nine-year-old bay bending Wind Wood Zaatri, Shaikh Khalid will ride eight-year-old chestnut mare Miss Dancer, Shaikh Abdullah will ride 12-year-old bay mare Coolahlee Park Charlene and Rashid Saeed will partner 11-year-old grey gelding Silver Majesty.

As many as 180 riders from different parts of the world including Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, USA, Great Britain, Brazil, Chile Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Russia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Namibia, Botswana, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Slovak Republic and Uruguay are vying in the championship. Most of the participating countries have sent in a six-member team to compete for the Team Gold.
Being the host country Bahrain has deputed a 12-member team which is being led by Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation President Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and includes Federation First Vice-President Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

Qatar team confident for World Championships

Published: Wednesday, 14 December, 2005, 10:13 AM Doha Time
The Qatar Endurance racing team has reached Bahrain in a confident mood for the World Junior Endurance Championships to be held there from December 17.
Ibrahim Saeed al-Malki, the team manager and trainer said he was confident about Qatar?s chances in the event.
?We have trained hard and we hope to do well in the World Championships,? al-Malki said.
Five riders from Qatar are to take part in the event to be held in Sakhir, Bahrain. Around 153 riders are participating from 30 countries across the world and Bahrain is confident that it will host an exciting competition.
The team will be led by Qatar Endurance Committee Chairman Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
Sheikh Mohammed rides Du Park Brolga, Saad Waheed al-Kuwari rides Tison, Hamad al-Marri rides Ballistic and Sheikh Mohammed bin Nawaf al-Thani will ride Joab. Khalid Hamad al-Atiyah, the other member, rides Debonair.
Saad Waheed had performed well in Pau, France, finishing the 120km endurance championship as 2nd place. Sheikh Mohammed successfully completed the gruelling 160km endurance ride at the Dubai World Championship last January.
Endurance racing is a team effort and is a test of the horse?s condition, stamina and the rider?s intelligence. The gruelling test takes horse and rider long distances - 50 to 100 miles - over varied terrain.
Because of the rigours of the race, which is based on speed, it is done under veterinary supervision. It takes a ?pit crew? to compete in this kind of racing.
The horse will be checked for any soreness or change in attitude, pulse, respiration and other physical factors. Failure to meet any of these criteria for racing can stop a horse from completing the course.
Quarantine manager Dr Alex Atock said having 140 horses under one roof was very difficult and by achieving it Bahrain has proved its organisational skills.
?Most of the delegations have fielded six riders each which is the highest number of entrants allowed for this event,? he told the Gulf Daily News.
?With so many horses in the fray, Bahrain still managed to reduce the number of horses in each stable to give more movement for freedom around that area,? he said.
Endurance Village director Khalid Fakhro said the village was well geared and ready to host any world championship.
?The village with all its hi-tech facilities and supplies can be compared to any world class villages. The whole world will be watching the best riders competing here and the Bahrainis should be proud for hosting the event,? he said.
Fakhro said the village was built in a short time for this event. ?For the past few days, all the teams have been practicing at the village and they praised the conditions here and the overall atmosphere,? said Khalid.