Bahrain: To organize Grand Prix series

Gulf Daily News

By RAMI Hulayyel
December 7

THE Bahrain Royal and Equestrian Federation (Breef) will be organising the first-ever 120-km Endurance Horseride Grand Prix starting next week.The first of this three-round event will be held on Saturday at Emirates International Endurance Village, Al Wathba in Abu Dhabi while Dubai and Bahrain will host the remaining two rounds which are yet to be scheduled.

The Dubai round will be held at the Dubai International Endurance City in Seih Assalem while the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir will host the Bahrain round.

The first round at the Emirates International Endurance Village will coincide with the National Day Cup which is scheduled for the same day.

The 120-km ride, which will be divided into five stages, is expected to attract some of the world's best riders and horses apart from huge participation from other GCC countries.

The championship was announced last night by Breef president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa at a Press conference held at Banyan Tree premises in Sakhir.

"This is a new idea of having Grand Prix endurance races like in the Formula One and it's just a beginning to have two countries hosting three different rounds," said Shaikh Nasser who confirmed his participation in this prestigious event.

"We are planning to have this championship on an annual basis and hopefully more countries will be included in the future," said Shaikh Nasser.

Shaikh Nasser said Breef will be inviting top officials and riders from all over the world as either participants or guests to witness this year's event. He added that this year's championship is expected to finish before March.

The Breef chief said the rider to accumulate the highest number of points at the end of three rounds will be crowned overall champion.

"It doesn't matter if you take part in one, two or all three races to win this competition. The idea is to get more points to become the champion," added Shaikh Nasser.

"The Grand Prix is open to all riders of all nationality. All are welcome to take part," he said.

In this specialised category of riding, every rider must weight 75 kgs or above without riding equipment and must be registered with the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

Shaikh Nasser said the federation decided to organise this championship after it was approved by the FEI last year.

"We submitted our proposal to the international federation which agreed to have this kind of event under its umbrella."

Shaikh Nasser thanked UAE prime minister, vice-president and the ruler of Dubai Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for his support to getting this event underway.

Spain: CEI*** Santa Susana

Madrid, Dec. 4, 2008. - Tomorrow begins the first race of the 56th edition of the traditional Santa Susana Raid, the last big European Raid 2008. The first test will begin at 7:30 pm in the Parc de Colomer of the town of Barcelona. In the list of participants are 14 Spanish riders.

This classic, in addition to being the oldest rallies in Europe, has the honor of being the only one in Spain which is held in two days: the stage tomorrow is composed of 99 kilometers demanding in a scenario that is characterized by great difficulty, because it has a gap of more than 500 m. The final stage will take place on Saturday, and will consist of 99 km also Each of the two days will be divided into three stages of 40, 33 and 26 km.

Yesterday was the first veterinary review. It is planned that tomorrow at 15:00 am the review will be held on the first day of competition. Similarly, when finishing the final race on Saturday, will be held two further revisions: the very tender and will determine the award of "Best Fitness"

The celebration of the Santa Susana Raid closes a season in which this discipline has once again become a major player in the riding of our country, mainly thanks to the results obtained in the recently disputed World Championship, which has been repeated individual gold and has achieved a creditable 5th placed teams.

Qatar: Al Shaqab Team riders set to dominate event

The Peninsula

12/7/2008

Doha: The Endurance Riding season continues this weekend as three separate competition rides are scheduled to be held at the Qatar Endurance Village.

Al Shaqab, member of the Qatar Foundation, has entered a strong group of 12 riders in the Senior Open, 100 km event, and an additional nine, Junior Youth competitors, in the 80 km race. Both events are regulated by the rules of Concours de Raid d'Endurance International (CEI).

Five of the six Al Shaqab riders that represented Qatar in a second place finish in the World Endurance Championship in Terengganu, Malaysia will compete in the Senior Open event.

The sixth member of the successful Qatar national team will ride in the Junior Youth division.

The six riders include: Atta Mohammed Beer, Khalid Sanad Al Nuaimi, Mohammed Sultan Ahmed Al Suweidi, Faleh Nasser Saleh Bughenaim, Mohammed Tahous Saif Al Nuaimi and Abdulla Towim Al Marri.

The group will be joined in the ride by Al Shaqab's team trainer, Hadi Nasser Al Ramzani, and assistant trainer, Abdul Aziz Saleh Al Jaber.

In addition the Qatar National Cup will be held in two divisions on December 20, a 120km event and a junior youth ride at 100km.

The calendar for December includes:

Saturday, December 20

Qatar National Cup, 120k, CEI,Qatar National Cup, Junior-Youth, 100k, CEI

UAE: Baloushi brothers’ double delight

The National

Amith Passela
December 06, 2008
DUBAI

The al Baloushi riders from the Al Reef Stables are on the crest of the wave in endurance. They celebrated a double to take their tally to five winners and a second from six races.

Sultan al Baloushi led a superb 1-2 finish with his cousin Omair al Baloushi in the FEI 120-kilo- metre Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Challenge in Dubai and the younger brother Rashed, 14, won the 100km Boudthib trophy for the junior and young riders in Abu Dhabi.

Yousef al Baloushi, who trained all the winners, said he did nothing special in churning out the victors. “Sometimes you need a lot of luck in this game and right now it seems to be with me. I thank God for that.

“This is the best ever start we have had. The horses that came first and second have done nothing better than today’s finish.

“And the one that won in Boudthib was also winning for the first time. So it’s all going well for us. we are very excited and cherishing every moment.”

The trainer al Baloushi, who was denied of a win in last weekend’s race by his Abu Dhabi rival Ali Khalfan al Jahouri from the Al Wathba Stables, had to make the exit at the end of the penultimate loop in yesterday’s race when the part-Arab mare Lauralyn Sisette was vetted out for lameness.

“She is new for endurance and got very nervous,” added al Baloushi. “She was hard to control and ran at a crazy pace.

“The rains had made the conditions underfoot a bit heavy in some parts of the course and difficult for the horses.”

Sultan, on the 12-year-old Anglo-Arab gelding Sharahd Talik, and Omair, on Hurst Ibn Hamed, crossed the finish line together in just over five hours for Al Reef.

Khalifa Ghanim al Marri on the seven-year-old Purebred Arabian mare Azurra was a further two minutes behind in third for the Fazaa Endurance Team.

Al Reef’s Mohammed Jasim Rahimi was fourth on Corleone and the Dubai-based Spanish world champion Maria Alvarez Ponton was fifth on Halim for the Emirates Stables.

Meanwhile, Rashed completed back-to-back victories in the event for the junior and young riders.

He rode Al Galahn to victory in over four hours and three minutes with Hamdan Mousa al Hammadi over a minute behind in second on Rhiannons Nimbi for Sheikh Rashid bin Hamdan Al Maktoum.

The Al Reef also occupied the third and fourth spots with Munthar al Baloushi (Kasalo) and Ahmed Ali al Yahyaei (Spoutnik).

Bahrain: Shaikh Nasser announces launch of Endurance Grand Prix

Bahrain News

MANAMA, DEC 6 (BNA)

THE BAHRAIN ROYAL EQUESTRIAN AND ENDURANCE FEDERATION /BREEF/ PRESIDENT SHAIKH NASSER BIN HAMAD AL KHALIFA TODAY ANNOUNCED THE LAUNCH OF THE 120 KILOMETRE ENDURANCE GRAND PRIX IN ABU DHABI, UAE NEXT WEEK.
SPEAKING AT A PRESS CONFERENCE HELD THIS EVENING AT THE BANYAN TREE DESERT SPA AND RESORT AT THE SOUTHERN GOVERNMENT, SHAIKH NASSER SAID THE IDEA RECEIVED GREAT RESPONSE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL EQUESTRIAN FEDERATION. LIKE EVERY ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP, HE SAID, THIS EVENT WILL BE HELD AROUND THE IN A NUMBER OF COUNTRIES. BUT SHAIKH NASSER SAID THIS CHAMPIONSHIP WAS CHARACTERISED BY A GRAND PRIZE PRESENTED TO THE WINNER AND WILL ALLOW JOCKEYS WEIGHING OVER 75 KILOGRAMMES TO COMPETE. THE ENDURANCE GRAND PRIX WILL TAKE A ROUND INCLUDING A NUMBER OF COUNTRIES TO COLLECT POINTS, HE SAID. SHAIKH NASSER SAID THE CHAMPIONSHIP RESEMBLED THE FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX. MOREOVER, SHAIKH NASSER PRAISED THE SUPPORT FROM THE UAE VICE PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER SHAIKH MOHAMMED BIN RASHID AL MAKTOUM FOR HOLDING THE EVENT IN ABU DHABI NEXT WEEK. SHAIKH NASSER SAID THE IDEA OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP EMERGED FROM THE WILL TO UPGRADE AND DIVERSIFY ENDURANCE RACES AND TO ALLOW THE OPPORTUNITY FOR JOCKEYS WISHING TO PARTICIPATE. HE WISHED THE SUCCESS EVENT AND WISHED THAT IT WILL RECEIVE RESPONSE ENABLING IT TO GROW FROM A REGIONAL INTO AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL. NTQ/ 06-DEC-2008 20:58

UAE: Top riders for Rashid Challenge

By M. Satya Narayan, Senior Reporter
Published: December 03, 2008, 23:16

Dubai: Some of the top riders of the UAE will compete in Saturday's Shaikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Challenge - a 120km FEI CEI Three Star ride at the Dubai International Endurance City (DIEC) in Seih Assalam.

Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Ali Mohammad Al Muhairi, racing manager for Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, said the annual event will be held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan.

"All the top riders in the UAE will be taking part and this is a prestigious event in the UAE's domestic circuit," Al Muhairi, who himself is an endurance rider and trainer, said.

"Shaikh Hamdan has, over the years, been patronising endurance rides in the UAE and once again we expect over a hundred riders, including some top foreign riders," Al Muhairi said.

The 120km ride will be run in five stages and on offer will be cars and cash prizes.

"The top three riders will be awarded cars along with cash prizes while the top 20 riders will also get cash awards," said Ali Mousa Al Khamiri, general manager of Dubai Equestrian Club.

"There is also a car on offer for the spectators through a free raffle draw," he added.

Ali Mousa said two qualifier rides will also be held on Saturday.

"A 40km event and an 89km event will also be held along with the Shaikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Challenge ride.

The qualifier rides will help novice riders and horses to qualify for rides of longer distances," Ali Mousa said.

On Saturday, the Emirates Heritage Club will also be staging a 100km endurance ride for junior and young riders.

The Boudtheib Endurance Trophy is the third junior event to be held at the Boudtheib Endurance Village in Al Khatem, under the patronage of Shaikh Sultan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister.

Two other qualifier rides are also scheduled to be organised on Saturday at the Boudtheib Endurance Village.

FEI: 2009 Rules and Notes for Guidance

The FEI has published the 2009 Endurance Rules:

• Notes for Guidance (pdf)
  
  
• Endurance Rules(pdf)