2013 Dutch Championship

19 May 2013

65-year-old Marly van Ditzhuijzen and Eenhoorn's Dahman are the 2013 Dutch Champions after the 160-km*** Dutch Championship at Ermelo, Netherlands, on 18 May 2013. Eenhoorn's Dahman, an 11-year-old stallion, was bred by Van Ditzhuijzen. The pair had been reserve Dutch Champions in 2008 and 2012.

Defending Dutch champion Carmen Römer was 2nd (3rd overall) on Oceane D'havenne. This was her 8-year-old mare's first 160-km race.

Both riders are hoping to make the Dutch team for the 2013 European Championships that will be held in Most, Czech Republic.

Norwegian rider Olaug Espeli Carstensen, riding Al Thaka Mellemgaard, won the competition by 40 seconds over Ditzhuijzen.

The 120 km** ride was won by Marjike Visser riding Eomer.

Australia: 2013 Shahzada - The Ultimate Test in Horsemanship

19 May 2013

If you are 16 or 60, Shahzada is something you HAVE to do……whether it is on your “bucket list” or you just need a benchmark to set all your future goals, this is the challenge for you.  If you love your horse and wish you could spend day after day riding in the best country…..this is definitely for you!!!!!

 Come join us in St Albans from August 25 – 29 for the running of the 33rd Shahzada and try the ultimate test of 400km over five days or if you just want to come and have some fun and get a taste of real endurance riding, the mini marathon of 120km over three days is for you.   The ride covers 80kms each day over legendary tracks like Prestons, McKechnie’s, The Steps, Jack’s Track, Boyd’s, Short Wellums, Blue Hill but this year we are hoping to bring back some of the old course like Word of Life, Lyndrian Hill, Derwent’s Track and Baker’s and we will be conducting track clearing weekends which will be announced on Aussie Endurance so come along and help and get a taste of what to expect in August.   

Heaps of entertainment during the week from Trivia and Poetry nights, Shahzada Idol and the famous dog races…..a great canteen and perfect weather.   We like to think of all Shahzada entrants and helpers as part of the Shahzada Family……..everyone helps each other and genuinely wants everyone to succeed and earn that much sought after Shahzada buckle…..so come and give it a go!!!

Start planning now – best to be there at least the Saturday before the start at 4am on Monday, 25th and go to the Shahzada website www.shahzadaresults.org and read some of the stories from other riders who took up the challenge. 

Pre-nom forms and campsite request forms are on the website and please contact Shahzada secretary, Sue Todd on suetodd@activ8.net.au or 0263 79 7218 for any further information.

Great Britain: Set Back for Team Omar

Brechinadvertiser.co.uk - Full Article

Published on 18/05/2013 06:01

RAF Cranwell, normally home to aircrafts, played host to Endurance Great Britain’s third major national ride last weekend.

The event attracted hundreds of riders and horses from across the UK for a competition spread over three days.

Brechin based rider John Thomson and his pure bred Arabian gelding Prince Omar made the journey south to join some of his N&T Group team mates, all of whom were scheduled for the big distance race rides of 160kms over two days, one day 80kms and John and Omar in the 100kms CER one day class.

In a cloudless early morning the mass start went over the line at 07.31 a.m.

For a race ride it was a fairly sedate start due to a short section of tarmac that led into heavily rutted and root laden forest tracks but within a couple of kilometres, nerves had passed and the riders had settled down to a steady but quick endurance trot before the pace shifted up a gear...

Read more here:
http://www.brechinadvertiser.co.uk/sport/local-sport/set-back-for-team-omar-1-2931151

UAE: Guilty racehorse trainer’s endurance links put spotlight on Arab doping record

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

May 6 2013

Concerns about equine doping and severe injuries in the Middle East are already the worst-kept secrets in FEI endurance. But this niche discipline seems set for wider scrutiny following the Godolphin steroids scandal that rocked the racing world.

Mahmood al Zarooni, who trained for Sheikh Mohammed’s elite Godolphin operation at Moulton Paddocks, Newmarket, was banned for a record eight years after 11 racehorses tested positive to anabolic steroids, following a spot-check by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) last month.

Al Zarooni also admitted giving steroids to four other horses.

Sheikh Mohammed is the ruler of Dubai, one of the seven principalities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He personally underpins the global racing economy with worldwide bloodstock investments worth billions and owns an estimated 5,000 racehorses.

His junior wife, Princess Haya of Jordan, is president of the FEI, the body that governs global horse sport, and has actively campaigned for clean sport...

Read more here:
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/guilty-racehorse-trainers-endurance-links-put-spotlight-on-arab-doping-record/

Great Britain: Sheikh Mohammed's son-in-law explains pressures that lead to doping in endurance racing

Telegraph.co.uk - Full Article

By Simon Briggs
14 May 2013

Endurance racing needed a smooth day out on Friday at Windsor, after the negative publicity that has surrounded it in recent days. The Queen attended, the United Arab Emirates took three of the first four places, and no positive tests were reported — for the moment at least.

For those not familiar with this niche equestrian pursuit, an endurance ride involves a course of up to 100 miles long which must be completed by one rider on one horse. It is little wonder that the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) has identified it as a hotspot for chemical enhancement, with 41 cases of doctored horses reported between 2010 and 2012.

Figures prepared by the Swiss Equestrian Federation suggest that the Middle Eastern states — which have come to dominate the sport since the 1990s — are at the heart of the problem. Horses from the UAE have repeatedly been cited — even one ridden by the Emir of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, himself. The connections between these mini-scandals and the rather larger debacle at Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin stables are not hard to draw.

Sheikh Mohammed’s son-in-law, Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, rode in Friday’s race, although with limited success; his horse Moro Famayev went lame and had to retire after the first 20-mile lap. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Prince Nasser — whose father is the King of Bahrain — admitted that doping was a major problem in endurance racing, though he was wise enough to defend Sheikh Mohammed from any accusation of wrong-doing.

“What made this happen is like exactly the athletes in the human races, they want to beat the other runners and the other countries, and they start to miscalculate things,” said Prince Nasser...

Read more here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/10055050/Sheikh-Mohammeds-son-in-law-explains-pressures-that-lead-to-doping-in-endurance-racing.html

Great Britain: Royal Windsor's first endurance race a success

Horseandcountry.tv - Full Article

By Charlotte Ricca-Smith on 14th-May-2013

Royal Windsor’s very first endurance ride was hailed as a great success, with perfect conditions helping to produce some top-class performances.

History in the making

The winner was United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Abdullah Ghanim Al Marri, who completed the 120km course in a time of four hours, 32 minutes and 34 seconds, riding his 11-year-old grey mare La Crysada.

“The race was difficult as this was my first ride abroad and the course was very different to courses in the Emirates but to come here and to enter the history books by winning the first ever Royal Windsor endurance ride is an honour,” said Al Marri.
In second place was fellow UAE rider Saeed Ahmed Jaber Al Harbi with Castlebar Kadeen, who finished in a time of four hours, 39 minutes and 39 seconds...

Read more here:
http://www.horseandcountry.tv/news/2013/05/14/royal-windsors-first-endurance-race-success

France: The 2014 WEG Organising Committee meets the press in Gothenburg

JEMFEIAlltech2014-normandie.fr

02/05/2013

The Organising Committee’smanaging director Fabien Grobon, outlined the major achievements of the last twelve months. He particularly focused on the teams’ daily achievements, as they work towards making these Games an event to live up to both the public’s expectations and enthusiasm.

José Carlin-Perez, the media operations manager, explained the OC’s approach to providing media services for all those making the journey to Normandy from 23 August to 7 September 2014. Everything possible will be done to guarantee high-quality services, which will allow media representatives to optimise their fortnight stay. José Carlin-Perez stressed the Organising Committee’s wish “to have a thorough approach towards the transmission of the results and information on a whole, as well as supplying a highly-organised working environment for the media.”

Teams of volunteers will be assigned to assist the media and facilitate the organisation of everyday services.

Specific areas will be reserved for the media in close proximity to the Main Media Centre (MMC/CIM) located at the d’Ornano Stadium. Additional media centres will also be placed at all of the competition venues. The control room and broadcasting centre will be set up nearby and television transmission will be handled conjointly by the EBU and the France Télévisions group.

Accommodation arrangements have already been finalised. Four hotels will be allocated to journalists, all of which are located close to Caen’s d’Ornano Stadium. Nearly 200 rooms have been pre-booked with rates ranging from 75 to 150 euros (depending on the category of hotel.) Reservations will be possible from 15 May 2013 onwards.

A shuttle service will be organised between the media hotels, the MMC/CIM and all the different competition venues.

Requests for accreditation will be possible from February 2014 until May 2014.

Journalists present in Gothenburg went away with all the information necessary for their forthcoming trip to Normandy. Further dates have been planned for the coming months.

Everything has been designed to make the media’s work that little bit easier at the Games!

Key dates:

Hotel reservations from 15 May 2013 – contact : hotels.normandie2014@mci-group.com
Accreditation possible from February 2014 – contact : media.operations@normandie2014.com
For practical information : media.operations@normandie2014.com