UAE: Al Kamda stables score 1-2 finish

Gulfnews.com

By M Satya Narayan
March 07, 2009

Abu Dhabi: Ahmad Saeed Al Kamda and his 10-year-old chestnut gelding Al Galyb HCF made it two out of two when they won Saturday's Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Challenge 2 100-km endurance ride at the Dubai International Endurance City.

The 25-year-old was, infact, delighted as another horse from the Al Kamda Stables, Jeelan, under Mansour Ebrahim Ahmad Esmail finished second to complete a 1-2 for the private stable.

Both finished hand-in-hand, Al Kamda just a second ahead of Esmail - and this time both horses cleared the final veterinary check.

On January 24, Saeed and his brother Rashid had finished in similar fashion on Al Galyb HCF and Jeelan but the latter was disqualified in the final vet check.

In yesterday's ride, a total of 72 started, but right from the start it was Esmail, closely followed by Al Kamda, who led. The pair were ahead after each of the first three loops of 32km, 29km and 27km. It was only in the final loop that Al Kamda forged ahead and registered his second consecutive career win with Al Galyb HCF.

The pair also bettered their previous best timing of 4 hrs 6 minutes and 19 seconds recorded in Al Wathba, when they clocked 3 hrs 59mins and 40 seconds yesterday.

Hamad Ebrahim Abdullah Al Marzouqi, who had won the Round 1 of the Challenge with Tiramisu 2, was again in fine form when he rode into third place while Abdul Aziz Al Redha was fourth on Mystic Dream.

Ali Moosa Al Khamiri, general manager of Dubai Equestrian Club, presented the winner Al Kamda with the keys to a gleaming Nissan Patrol 4WD car while Esmail and Al Marzouqi got Dh50,000 and Dh45,000.

Bahrain: Manal declared winner

Gulf-daily-news.com

8th MARCH 2009

BAHRAIN'S Royal Endurance Team rider Manal Fakhrawi was declared the winner of last month's 120-km Women's Endurance Horseride Championship following the disqualification of the original winner, it was announced yesterday.

Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Stables rider Latifa Al Shaikh had won the race on February 7 at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir while Manal was second.

But Latifa's horse Castle Bar failed a dope test later and was disqualified.

An official from the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef), who preferred not to have his name mentioned, said the result of the blood tests did not pass the regulations of the International Equestrian Federation.

Manal, who rode Samara in the race, said she was delighted to hear the news. "It's a honour to receive the Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Cup," said Manal.

It was the second victory this year for Fakhrawi's coach Shaikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa who is also manager of the Bahrain Royal Endurance Team.

Malaysia: King Among 58 Riders In Endurance Race

Bernama.com

March 07, 2009

SETIU, March 7 (Bernama) -- The ISN-RTES-PENN Endurance Race was flagged off today at Lembah Bidong with 58 riders, including Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin and his two children.

Tuanku Mizan representing RTES, riding on "Kentara" competes in the 100km category together with 16 other riders while his son Tengku Muhammad Ismail and daughter Tengku Nadhirah Zahrah compete in the 40km distance category.

Tengku Muhammad set out on "Hermere Cairo" while Tengku Nadhirah was riding on "Anetta".

The gruelling race, held over 40km, 80km and 100km distances also sees riders from Australia, Singapore and Indonesia competing.

The championship, organised by the state government with the collaboration of the National Sports Institute (ISN), Royal Terengganu Endurance Stable (RTES) and Penn Endurance & Equestrian Club, was flagged off by Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said at 5pm today.

The race will be a platform to identify talented riders for the European Open in Italy (Sept 26) and the World Equestrian Championship in Kentucky, USA next year.

UAE: Al Kamda brothers eyeing top prize at endurance race

Gulfnews.com

By M. Satya Narayan
March 06, 2009

Dubai: Over 90 riders, all UAE nationals who are either individual owners or riders who represent the smaller private stables in the UAE, will start in today's Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Challenge II ride to be held at the Dubai International Endurance City.

The 100km ride is a National ride and will be run in four stages of 32km, 29km, 27km and 12 km.

Brothers Rashed Saeed Al Kamda and Ahmad Saeed Al Kamda, Layla Abdul Aziz Al Redha and a few other consistent performers in this series of national rides will all be eyeing the top prize which is a Nissan Patrol 4-wheel-drive vehicle.

Organised by the Dubai Equestrian Club, the second and third placed riders will receive Dh50,000 and Dh45,000 respectively, while all others who finish between 4th and 20th positions will also receive cash prizes.

"We thank Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, for his support to endurance events in the UAE. These National rides encourage UAE riders who are trying to improve and equip themselves to take on the more established riders from the bigger stables," said Ali Mousa Al Khamiri, General Manager of DEC.

"By restricting this event to private stables and individuals, this ride gives a chance for more UAE riders to take part and compete in a field that is a level playing field," said Ali Mousa.

Riders from the Al Ain Stables, Al Ahli Riding Club, Al Giyad Stables, Al Neyadi Stables, Al Rawahel Stables, Al Sila Stables, and Emirates Desert Stables among others will be taking part in the ride which gets off to a mass start at 6.30am.

France: Sommant en Morvan - First ride of 2009 Season

Results and Images from 2009 Sommant en Morvan from 20 to 90 Km

Bahrain: His Majesty Endurance Cup set

Gulf Daily News
PREPARATIONS are underway for His Majesty King Hamad's Endurance Horseride Championship, the biggest event of the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation's (Breef) calendar to be held on March 14.

The Marsa Al Seef-sponsored event, to be held at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir, is expected to see top riders from Bahrain, the GCC and Arab region competing over 120km.

This prestigious championship will follow the remarkable achievement of Breef president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa who finished second overall in the first-ever Endurance Grand Prix series held recently in Dubai.

Shaikh Nasser said His Majesty's race is regarded as one of the most exciting competitions in the season due to the number of riders taking part with valuable prizes to be given away to the winners.

Prominent riders from all over the region are keen to take part in the championship.

The Breef chief said the federation started to prepare for the championship last month.

He thanked the organising committee members for their efforts in preparing the village and to sponsors Marsa Al Seef for backing the event.

Shaikh Nasser also extended his appreciation to His Majesty for his continued support to equestrian sports, in general, and to endurance races, in particular.

His Majesty King Hamad's Championship was originally scheduled for Saturday, but has been postponed till March 14.

The race was rescheduled to give all stables and riders the opportunity to prepare for this prestigious event.

Horses are the kings at Guatemala's Mayan Adventure Ride

Original Article: Guatemala Times

Guatemala's Mayan Adventure Ride, Ingenio Magdalena 2nd Edition
Guatemala. Preparations for Mayan Adventure Ride 2009, Ingenio Magdalena 2nd Edition, are going full speed. Only few more days to the start of the action at the beautiful base camp, Platinum Sponsor "Ingenio Magdalena". The horses will be arriving at base camp on Friday the 6th, for the veterinary inspection. It is a very important moment for the participants; the veterinarians are going to determine if the horses are fit to participate. If everything is OK they are going to be kept in quarantine inside portable boxes until the start of the race Saturday 4:00 PM. All the strict rules of the FEI have to be complied with, this is an international event certified by the FEI. The participating riders and horses will be able to qualify for national credits, for the Pan American games 2009 and the World Endurance Championship 2010 USA.

The event starts in the evening, 4:00 pm. The heath of Guatemala's south coast at the start of the race is going to turn fresh during the night and the sun light is going to be replaced by a nearly full moon with a sky full of stars. Some riders are going to use headlamps whilst others are going to trust their horse's night vision across the routes between sugar cane plantations.

Approximate time that the participants of the different categories are going to be riding:
Distance Start Finish hours
40 km 4:00 PM between 7:10 PM and 8:40 PM
60 km 4:00 PM between 8:25 PM and 10:40 PM
80 km 4:00 PM between 10:40 PM and 1:00 AM
120 km 4:00 PM between 2:40 AM and 6:20 AM
160 km 4:00 PM between 5:00 AM and 9:00 AM

The horses have to be in top shape and need a lot of "goodies" to have energy for the long difficult race. They are getting vitamins, food supplements, and special food: alfalfa and oats, to improve their performance and stamina for this challenge. This week the horses get only light workouts to help them accumulate glycogen in their liver and muscles, that way their energy storage will be full. Other reason to avoid vigorous exercise before the race is of course to prevent the horse from getting lame. The horse training began several months before the competition.

In these last days some riders will clip their horse's hair to help them to cool faster, because the sweat evaporates faster and the fresh air by convection helps to take the heat from the skin with the horse movement.



Janio Johnston is a Veterinarian and also a participant of The Mayan Adventure Ride: Ingenio Magdalena 2nd Edition.

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Endurance.Net Coverage of the Event