Qatar: BD13,000 cash awards for endurance challenge

A total prize-money of BD13,000 is up for grabs when the Bahrain Open Endurance Horseride Championship begins tomorrow at 6pm at the Bahrain International Endurance Village premises in Sakhir.

The season's final event, which is being held under the patronage of Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef) president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, covering a distance of 100 kms, will be divided into four stages with 30 kms for the first two stages, 25 kms for the third while the fourth and final stage is over 15 kms.

The top 10 riders in the race will be awarded cash prizes with the winner getting BD3,000, BD2,200 for second place and BD1,800 third place.

Riders from Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Stable as well as top riders from Qatar have arrived on the island for the challenge.

The Kingdom Stable team include three women riders - Alya'a Al Huwaiti, Latifa Al Shaikh and Noora Al Yousif, as well as Mohammed Al Mahlasi and Abdulrahman Al Hawas.

Five other individual riders from Saudi Arabia - Hamad Al Shimmiri, Nawaf Al Otaibi, Humood Al Shimmiri, Abdulla Al Nabhan and Bader Al Misfir - are also in the fray.

POR: Championship of Portugal

GOLD MEDAL	Ana Margarida Costa /GOZLANE DU SOMAIL
SILVER MEDAL	João Raposo /QUINZA
BRONZE MEDAL	Pedro Godinho / OLIMPICO DA AMEIRA

The results of last Saturday's National Championship of Portugal
(160km) race are posted at:

http://www.endurance.net/international/portugal/

Of interest, beyond our congratulations Ana Margarida Costa and
Gozlane du Somail taking the Gold medal, are the completion times.
All finishers earned their 13:20 CoCs and the top 10 (would have)
achieved the proposed 10:40 CoC* for 2008WEC.

This is the same venue that will host the 2007 European Championship
- so - championship course; championship field; and the proposed CoC
seemed well matched to both on the perfect weather of last Saturday.

This coming week-end, we have events occuring in Australia (Merri
will be at Imbil); Malaysia (Steph is at Terengganu); and Biltmore
(Angie is at Ashville); It will be interesting to see how things
stack up at these 160km FEI events as well.)

jt

(also of note: the automated timing system used collected all the
"Vet Card" information as well:

http://www.orion-timing.com/

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RSA: Saudi women for endurance race

THREE women riders from Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Stable will take part in the Bahrain Open Endurance Horseride Championship scheduled for Friday at 6pm at the Bahrain International Endurance Village premises in Sakhir.

Alya'a Al Huwaiti, Latifa Al Shaikh and Noora Al Yousif have confirmed their participation in this 100-km race which is the last championship of the season and the second consecutive to be held at night.

Other riders from the Kingdom Stable are Mohammed Al Mahlasi and Abdulrahman Al Hawas. The team have already arrived in Bahrain and started their preparations for the championship.

Besides the Kingdom Stable, five individual riders from Saudi Arabia are in the fray. They are Hamad Al Shimmiri, Nawaf Al Otaibi, Humood Al Shimmiri, Abdulla Al Nabhan and Bader Al Misfir.

Top riders from Qatar - Ahmed Al Malki, Faleh Al Ajmi, Khalid Al Nuaimi, Khalid Al Malki, Sa'ad Al Kuwari and Haider Al Kuwari - are also taking part in the race. From Bahrain, riders from stables such as Al Shuwamekh, Bahrain Riding School, Awal and Al Reem are taking part.

The veterinary tests will be held on Friday from 3pm to 5.30pm, 30 minutes before the start of the race.

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FEI: Proposed Qualifications for Malaysia WEC 2008

24/04/2007 FEI News:

Endurance World Championship 2008 - Qualification Criteria

Following upon the recent FEI Endurance Committee Meeting, The Endurance Technical Committee has proposed additional qualification criteria in respect of the CH-M-E - Malaysia 2008. These additional criteria have now been circulated to all National Federations for comment. The document (http://www.horsesport.org/e/PDFS/2008QualificationCriteria.pdf) states:


MALAYSIA 2008 WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIPS – SENIORS
Articles which will apply following the decision of the FEI Endurance Technical Committee to require qualification to be undertaken only as a combination:

Minimum Qualification Criteria Art 825:
825.3
3.1
To be qualified to participate in any Championship or any other CEI 4* ride, a rider/horse as a combination has to have successfully completed a CEI 3* (or above) ride, the combination, in doing so, meeting the parameters and conditions as defined in art.825.4. This minimum qualification must be achieved within 24 months prior to the closing date of nominated entry.
825.4
The rider/horse must:
1. Successfully complete the ride equal to, or greater than, the published Championship or CEI 4* distance (5kms tolerance allowed).
2. Successfully complete the ride (as defined in art.825.3) in a ride time equal to, or less than, 13 hours 20 mins. per 160 kms distance.
3. Successfully complete the ride in the same time frame as the published Championship or CEI 4*.
Time Frame:
• One Day: A ride which has no single hold time in excess of 120 minutes and has a total of all hold times not exceeding 300 minutes.
• Multiple Day: A ride which has one or more single hold times in excess of 480 minutes.

SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATION AS DETAILED HEREUNDER
Additional Qualification Criteria applicable only to Malaysia 2008.

To be qualified to participate in WEC Malaysia 2008 a rider/horse as a combination has to have successfully completed an additional FEI CEI 3* (or above) ride, the combination, in doing so, meeting the parameters and conditions as defined below. This additional qualification must be achieved within 12 months prior to the closing date of nominated entry.
825.4
The rider/horse must:
4. Successfully complete such additional ride equal to, or greater than, the published Championship or CEI 4* distance (5kms tolerance allowed).
5. Successfully complete such additional ride in a ride time equal to, or less than, 10 hours 40 mins. per 160 kms distance.
6. Successfully complete the ride in the same time frame as the published Championship or CEI 4*.
Time Frame:
• One Day: A ride which has no single hold time in excess of 120 minutes and has a total of all hold times not exceeding 300 minutes.
• Multiple Day: A ride which has one or more single hold times in excess of 480 minutes.

Any horse qualified as per the articles above that, within 6 months of the closing date for nominated entries, is eliminated from any FEI or National competition for Metabolic reasons requiring immediate invasive treatment, will forfeit such qualification.
Any Rider qualified as per the articles above who, within 12 months of the closing date for nominated entries, is eliminated from any two consecutive events (FEI or National) for Metabolic reasons will forfeit such qualification.

Tuanku Mizan A King Who Loves Sports, Has People At Heart

By Haslinda Zainal
KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 (Bernama)
Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, who will be installed as the 13th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Thursday, is a ruler who has the people at heart and is highly active in sports, especially equine events, and has emerged as the best polo player of Terengganu.

His dedication to equine sports is reflected in his getting the prestigious World Endurance Championship (WEC) 2008 to be held in Malaysia, the first tropical country to host the championship since it was introduced in 1983.

Tuanku Mizan himself will participate in the WEC qualifying race -- the Yayasan Diraja Sultan Mizan (YDSM)-PENN Endurance Challenge -- at the Terengganu International Endurance Park in Lembah Bidong from May 4 to 6.

The competition will see participation by top riders from 10 countries, including New Zealand, Holland, Britain, several West Asian countries, Brunei and Indonesia.


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ITALY-DUBAI: VISITING MINISTER LAUNCHES ASSISI ENDURANCE EVENT

AKI

Rome, 19 April (AKI) - Italy's undersecretary for international trade Mauro Agostini was visiting Dubai on Thursday for a meeting with the deputy economy minister Abdallah Saleh, and a president of the Chamber of Commerce Abdul Rahman Saif Al Ghurair. Agostini will take part in the presentation of the Assisi Endurance Lifestyle 2007, a high profile equestrian event to be held in the UNESCO heritage site Assisi in central Italy in June.

Among the activities scheduled as part of ‘Assisi Endurance Lifestyle 2007’ is the traditional Endurance competition - Bab Al Shams Endurance Cup 2007 - in which each rider (by invitation only) acts as the ambassador of his own country to Assisi. The 120 kilometre endurance race attracts some of the world's leading riders from 40 nations.

Assisi Endurance Lifestyle 2007 is not a purely sporting event, however, but boasts a rich four-day programme of other events related to the ties between Italy and Dubai, and the United Arab Emirates.

Italy's foreign trade minister Emma Bonino will host a convention "Voices of Arab Women" and there will be a related economic forum.

"This will bring together the best enterpreneurs and business figures of the two nations, with a specific session dedicated to business-to-business encounters" added Agostini.

In the past decade trade between Italy and the UAE has passed from 1.3 billion euros to 3.5 billion euros in 2006. The main Italian exports to the Emirates are gold, jewellery and machinery, while the main imports from there are base metals, oil products and electronic and radio devices.

FEI General Assembly adopts new statutes

Gulf News, Dubai
By M. Satya Narayan, Staff Reporter

Abu Dhabi: The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) adopted some new statutes at the General Assembly held in Estoril, Portugal, under the presidency of Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain, wife of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The Statutes adopted at Sunday's FEI Extraordinary General Assembly highlight the FEI's purposes and objectives and reflect its core values and fundamental principles, according to an FEI press release.
These statutes comprise the FEI's constitution and put forward the organisation's attribution of powers, rights and responsibilities among its bodies and stakeholders - including the national federations, athletes, organising committees and the International Olympic Committee.
"Through the passing of the new Statutes and Internal Regulations, you have a framework for transparency and a road on which to move forward. You have approved the shedding of some of the archaic phraseology that limited our ability to be proactive ... and you have heralded a new era of better working practices that will make us more cost effective and more efficient," Princess Haya told the General Assembly on Monday.
More than 350 participants took part in the 2007 FEI General Assembly, hosted by the Portuguese Equestrian Federation with representation from 97 National Federations (NF). Three new NFs were affiliated - Albania (Group I), Cambodia (Group VIII) and Yemen (Group VII).
The UAE Equestrian and Racing Federation delegation was headed by Hussain Mohammad Hussain, Secretary General. The UAE belongs to Group VII in the FEI. Bahrain's Shaikh Khalid Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa was named the Group VII representative.
Agrentine rider Mercedes Tapia was named representative for Endurance in the newly-formed FEI Athletes Committee.
Swelling numbers
"Over the last nine years, the number of our member NF's has swelled to an impressive 140, compared to the number of National Olympic Committee's under the IOC - 203. Our events have grown from 446 in 1994 to 2,000 in 2006," Princess Haya said.
"We have begun addressing and answering the IOC's call for universality in all our disciplines. But more importantly, we are now able to respond to the National Federations who wish to become more active through the initiation of our Development Department. Our commercial department came to life in 2003 and has taken great strides towards making the FEI a self sufficient body in its own right," she said.