UAE: Mohammad leads UAE squad to Jordan

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

November 13, 2008

Al Aqaba, Jordan: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, yesterday arrived in Al Aqaba, Jordan, accompanied by UAE jockeys - champions of the International Endurance Race in Malaysia.

The jockeys will take part in the International Endurance Race, hosted by Jordan from today (Friday), with the participation of tens of jockeys.

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[WEC Reports] Spain Wins Individual Gold as U.S. Battles Illness and Elements

USEF.org

Release: November 12 2008

Terengganu, Malaysia - Besting a Championship field of riders, Spain's Maria Alvarez Ponton galloped home to Gold on Nobby, with a ride time of 8:48:06. Argentinean rider, Agustin Vita, riding Baraka Ibn Al Tamah won Silver, and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem of the United Arab Emirates, gained the Bronze on Tazoul El Parry at the 2008 World Endurance Championship held at Terengganu, Malaysia, on the edge of the South China Sea. Nobby and Ponton were also awarded the Best Condition. The first ten riders finished within one hour of the winning time. The Gulf Countries of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain swept Team Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively.

Kathy Brunjes riding Theatric was the first and only member of the United States team to finish in 24th position while Valerie Kanavy riding Flash Flame came in shortly after her in 25th place. The six member U.S. squad finished one team and one individual rider after an exceptional run of bad luck. Team member, John Crandell riding Saba Shams, was eliminated at Gate Two for lameness. Cheryl Dell, riding one of the highest rated horses, Reason To Believe, was stricken with a debilitating illness and had to withdraw at the same gate. Early in the ride, a heavy rain storm caused flooding on the trail, but it was the bolt of lightning that finished off the team. When lightning struck a tree as Jan Worthington on the aptly named, Golden Lightning, and Meg Sleeper on Syrocco Reveille, traveled through the water on the trail, the horses received the shock. The horses were flipped end over end, dumping riders and gear. Fortunately, no one was badly hurt at the time, but the scrapes and bruises on the horses took their toll over the remaining 70 miles, and both horses were eventually eliminated for lameness. Forty-eight horses finished the ride of the 127 starters.

United States Equestrian Federation Director of Endurance Vonita Bowers said, "We had a plan and stuck to it, but we had some bad luck. The horses were very ready. We had no metabolic issues and we had good recoveries. We knew the speeds that we wanted to go and we stuck fairly close to those speeds. Except for the unforeseen things such as illness and lightning, we rode our ride the way we planned. The selection process gave us the best horses and the best riders, and the training session system of selection worked well."

Chef d'Equipe, Becky Hart commented, "In spite of the outcome, a lot of good things happened here. Everyone worked like a team; when a rider was pulled, they pitched in to help. We are now moving onward and making plans for Kentucky."

Held once every two years, the 2008 FEI World Endurance Championship was staged from the Terengganu International Endurance Park (TIEP) in Lembah Bidong, situated on the South China sea on the coastline north of Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. 129 riders from 32 countries were invited to compete. The sponsorship and location were promoted by avid endurance rider, the King of Malaysia, Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Wathiqu Billah Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Mahumud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah. The world's top riders were joined by members of the Royal families of Bahrain and Dubai.

Due to the tropical climate, the 160 km event began at 5:30 p.m. and ran throughout the night.

The U.S. Training Squad is already preparing for the 2010 Endurance Championship ride to be held as part of the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky. This is the 3rd time the United States has hosted the World Endurance Championship. It was held at Front Royal, Virginia, in 1988 and in Fort Riley, Kansas, in 1996.

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Posted By Merri to WEC Reports at 11/13/2008 12:08:00 AM

UAE: Open competition of the endurance season set to begin

Gulf News

By M. Satya Narayan, Senior Reporter
Published: November 12, 2008, 00:02

Abu Dhabi: Over 100 riders are expected to kick start the open competition 2008-09 season at the Sorouh Cup to be held at the Emirates International Endurance Village on Saturday.

"We thank Sorouh Real Estate who are supporting this event for the second year and we are expecting all the top riders to take part on Saturday," said Adnan Sultan, Director General of Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club.

"A total prize money of Dh300,000 and a car for the winner will be up for grabs in the FEI 120-km ride which will be held in five stages," said Adnan.

"We have also instituted two awards for the best rider and the best trainer for all the rides to be held here at Al Wathba."

Mohammad Al Marzouqi, HR and Administrative Director of Sorouh, said: "We would like to place on record our gratitude to Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Presidential Affairs, for giving us another opportunity to support equestrian sport.

"This is the second year that we are supporting this event and what makes it all the more important is that Saturday's Sorouh Cup will kick start the Open competition in the UAE's 2008-09 endurance season," he said.

"Endurance riding is so closely linked to the community, which has a deep-rooted affinity with horses, which is why Sorouh is keen to support and promote this equestrian sport."

Promotional campaign

Lara Sawaya, Managing Director of Tasweeq Management, said the Sorouh Cup would see that start of a promotional campaign for the breeding stables of Shaikh Mansour.

"This is the first in a promotional campaign which will see Sorouh and other companies involved in promoting the breeding stables of Shaikh Mansour.

"The campaign will also include organising seven races around the world for Purebred Arabian horses."

The Sorouh Cup trophies have been designed specially by a top company in Los Angeles, according to Sawaya.

Horse sport body appoints Lexis

Brandrepublic.com

by Matt Cartmell, PR Week UK 10-Nov-08, 10:16

The Federation of International Equestrianism (FEI), the international governing body of horse sport, has appointed Lexis Sport to provide consultancy work.


The FEI is responsible for a variety of different horse sport disciplines ranging from show jumping and eventing through to more niche sports such as carriage driving and endurance.

This is both the first win for Lexis’s new head of sport Will Oscroft and the agency’s first sports commercial consultancy.

Oscroft said: ‘It is a constant challenge to expand the appeal of these sports to reach out to new audiences whilst capitalising on the commercial value within each sport.’

Oscroft added that Lexis will be working closely with the commercial department of the FEI to capitalise on the fact that horse sport appeals to an up-scale family audience and that it is one of the only Olympic sports when men and women compete on equal footing.

The FEI is also expanding its event-based sponsorship opportunities within jumping and dressage, as well as capitalising on the increasing demand for content through the development of a web TV platform.

[WEC Reports] New Zealand: They did it!

NZEquestrian.org.nz

9/11/2008 4:20:09 p.m.

Andrea Smith and horse Sierra Nevada were placed 31st in the 160km World Endurance Championship in a time of 11:46 yesterday.

Kevin James the High Performance Director said today that the team is very happy with Andrea's performance and that she has done NZ proud. When asked how Andrea was feeling today, Kevin said "a box of fluffy ducks".

There were 127 starters in the World Championship with an unbelievable 70 that "vetted out". The low completion rate says a lot about how difficult the climatic conditions and track may have been.

Smith's completion and excellent placing has given NZ the ability to compare, how we sit on the international stage. It is at times like these that the future of the sport, heading into WEG 2010, looks very promising and exciting for Endurance NZ.

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Posted By Merri to WEC Reports at 11/11/2008 01:19:00 AM

[WEC Reports] The Aussies: 12th FEI WEC 2008

12th FEI World Endurance Championship 2008 by Sharon Meyers

What a roller coaster of an adventure this ride has been.

Maria Alvarez Ponton won the ride. Her bay French-bred Arab gelding Nobby (Best Conditioned) is only a little fellow but is neatly put together - an athletic horse. They traveled at 21.41 for the final leg.
Second: Agustin Vita, UAE.
Third: Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, UAE.
Fourth: HH Sh Majid Bin Mohd Al Maktoum, UAE.

The Australians vetted through to a huge cheer. The horses looked as though they could go out on another leg! Penny Toft and Don placed 18th and Kristie McGaffin and Tierview Maverick 19th. A sterling effort all round. The Australian contingent worked hard throughout the night and morning.

Derek Armitage and Moorah Park Mickerby, Matthew Sample and Brookleigh Ricardo, Brook Sample and Brookleigh Excalibur and Meg Wade and China Doll did not complete the ride.

Penny Toft and Don and Kristie McGaffin and Tierview Maverick both completed in 18th and 19th position. Their big striding horses ate up the course and they came back to base looking extraordinarily well after each loop. The Australian crew did a sterling job strapping the horses, as did the roving crew meeting the riders out at the crew points. A great team effort from everyone. Our team consisted of Penny, Kristie, Meg and Matthew.

It was a tough ride with the weather conditions that prevailed at the time. A huge storm hit the area with lightening strikes and thunder claps that hurt your ears. Lighting struck the media tent and the Aussie base. The Aussies received a nasty electric shock including Kristy and Maverick. The thunderclap that followed was unbelievable – we all jumped out of our skins! Fortunately Matt and I were not in the media tent at the time when it was struck by the lightening. I believe two American horses were knocked off their feet while out on the track as a result of a lightening strike.

I was surprised at the speed that Spaniard Maria Alvarez Ponton travelled at throughout the ride. It was obvious from the start she was out to win the ride. Her support team at the crew points were like a well-oiled machine – they never missed a beat. Maria never stopped, they just ran along side throwing water over the horse and doing what was necessary. One the first loop her speed was 20.45, second loop 17.56, third loop 19.44, fourth 15.83, fifth 17.71, sixth 16.80 and seventh 21.41. Maria led for all loops except Loop Two where she came in second. I went and had a close look at her horse Noddy while waiting for Best Conditioned. He is a lovely purebred Arab gelding with kind eyes, very athletic looking, well put together and quite small. For the pedigree conscious he has three crosses to Nabeg. Noddy looked as though he could go out again, a credit to his rider and team.

The Team Results
First – UAE
Second – Qatar
Third – Bahrain
Fourth – Portugal

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Photos by Matt Bennet

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Posted By Merri to WEC Reports at 11/11/2008 01:15:00 AM

[WEC Reports] Bahrain endurance team receive award

Gulf-daily-news.com

10th November2008

BAHRAIN'S Royal Endurance Team yesterday received the bronze medal following their third place finish in the World Endurance Horseride Championship which concluded on Saturday at the Terengganu International Endurance Park in Terengganu.The Bahraini team was captained by Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef) president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa who came eighth in the individual category.

Other riders of the Royal team were Ghazi Al Dossary who was ninth overall, Breef first vice-president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Yousif Taher, Raed Mahmood and Ahmed Abdulla.

The Bahraini team is coached by Shaikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa while the team manager is Dr Khalid Hassan who received the trophy on behalf of Shaikh Nasser who returned to Bahrain right after the race.

A total of 242 riders, representing 34 countries from across the world started this race but few managed to cross the finish line due to heavy rain, especially in the first three stages.

The awarding ceremony was held under the patronage of the Malaysian monarch Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin who deputised his wife to honour the winners.

Maria Mercedes of Spain won the race while Argentinean rider Agustin Vita finished second and Sultan bin Sulayem of the UAE was third.

Finished

The next four places were won by UAE riders - Shaikh Majid bin Mohammed Al Maktoum finished fourth and was followed by Mohammed Al Saboosi, Mubarak bin Shafia and Abdulla bin Hazeem in that other.

Shaikh Nasser and Shaikh Khalid congratulated the members of the UAE and Qatari teams who finished first and second respectively in the team event, adding that the Gulf nations will now pose a stronger challenge to the Europeans, Americans and the Australians.

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Posted By Merri to WEC Reports at 11/10/2008 04:39:00 PM