Great Britain: BHA is too quick to insist drug seizures nothing to do with racing

Theguardian.com - Full Article

Greg Wood
The Guardian, Sunday 29 September 2013 17.24 EDT

Sheikh Mohammed's endurance horse operation comes under scrutiny after drugs seized from Dubai government jet

When it emerged earlier this month that 124 illegally imported veterinary products had been seized in a raid at a property in Newmarket owned by the world's most powerful racehorse owner, the British Horseracing Authority appeared adamant it had nothing to do with them.

"This is a matter for Defra [the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which conducted the raid]," a BHA spokesman said. "In the view of Defra, there is no link between the seizure and the racing industry and the products were not intended for use on thoroughbreds."

Even then, it seemed quite casual, not least in the context of the Godolphin doping scandal which broke in April.

The horses which were found to have been doped with anabolic steroids by Mahmood al-Zarooni, including Encke, a Classic winner, are still serving their six-month bans from the sport. The account given by the BHA, which ejected Zarooni from racing with what felt like extraordinary speed a few days after the first positive tests at his stable, offers a vague and scarcely credible account of how he could have acquired industrial quantities of banned steroids.

Nor has it produced a satisfactory explanation of how he then managed, with the help of three junior staff, to dope at least 22 of his horses, and probably more, on a near-daily basis without anyone else realising what was happening. Zarooni did all this, apparently, while also spending all but a few days of the winter in Dubai.

Now, as it becomes clear that the structures and accountability in Sheikh Mohammed's endurance horse operation leave a lot to be desired, the BHA's breezy dismissal of any possible link with the racing side of the Sheikh's equine interests appears unwise at best...

Read more here:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2013/sep/29/bha-sheikh-mohammed-drugs

Sheik Mohammed's reputation takes another almighty hit just months after Al Zarooni's eight-year ban

Dailymail.co.uk - Full Article

By MARCUS TOWNEND
PUBLISHED: 05:41 EST, 30 September 2013

For the reputation of Sheik Mohammed – indeed the whole of Dubai - on the international stage of equine sport, suddenly the words damage limitation are starting to seem inadequate.

The revelation that a consignment of unlicenced veterinary products was destroyed earlier this year after being seized on a Dubai government jet which had landed at Stansted airport thrusts the ruler of Dubai into an unwanted spotlight once again.

The seizure of products one veterinary expert has described as ‘potentially toxic and dangerous to horses’ is connected to another find which emerged earlier this month at a farm near Newmarket which was part of the Sheik’s estate.

It was being used for the training of Endurance Horses...

Read more here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/racing/article-2438614/Sheik-Mohammeds-reputation-takes-almighty-hit.html?ico=sport%5Eheadlines

2013 Pan American Championships

September 27 2013

Oriana Ricca of Uruguay won the 125-km 2013 Pan American Championships on September 26, 2013 at Trinidad, Uruguay, aboard Amrillo HLM. She finished 27 seconds ahead of Argentina's Gabriel Morgui and HLP Astica. Uruguay's Nicolas Rodriguez Villamil riding JQ Safi Zafra won the bronze medal. USA's Mae Chase-Dunn finished 12th aboard Chamalu. Uruguay won Team Gold, Brazil won Team Silver, and Chile took Team Bronze.

Maria Pereira of Uruguay won the 125-km FEI Young Rider Pan American Championship aboard SM Lady Adela, by 2 minutes over Uruguay's Frederik Maidana aboard JQ Zarial. Paula Llorens of Chile, riding Sandek, took the bronze medal. Two USA Young Riders participated in the race. McCamey Kimbler finished 13th aboard SB Nazeem, and while Mallory Capps crossed the finish line on Serena Hab, her horse did not pass the final vet inspection. 21 Young Riders started the ride and 13 finished. Uruguay won Team Gold, and Chile took Team Silver.

For more results see
http://race.sistracking.com.uy/index.php

US Riders Head to Pan American Endurance Championships

By Kathleen Landwehr

Lexington, KY - Three individuals will represent the U.S. at the Pan American Endurance Championship on September 26. McCamey Kimbler, Mallory Capps, and Mae Chase-Dunn have traveled to Trinidad, Uruguay with Chef d'Equipe Emmett Ross to contest the championship. The Pan American Endurance Championship has divisions for both Senior and Young Riders/Juniors, as the competitors travel 120km in an attempt to earn top honors. 

Seventeen-year-old Kimbler (Aberdeen, South Dakota) will compete in the Young Riders/Juniors division with SB Nazeem, an eight-year-old gelding owned by Haras Santa Barbara. Kimbler has had several top performances this year, beginning 2013 with a third-place finish in the CEIJY2* at the Indian Springs Endurance race. She followed this up by winning two 120km CEIYJ2* races over the weekend in early May at the Spruce Woods Provincial Park. In July, Kimbler finished fourth in the 120km race that was part of the Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North. With top placings under her belt this year, she hopes to have another top performance in Ururguay. 

​Capps, a 19-year-old resident of Cumming, Georgia, will also compete in the Young Riders/Juniors division. She will partner with Alex Robaina's 12-year-old mare Serena Hab. Capps began the 2013 season with a win at FITS in the 90km race, as well as an eight-place finish the following day in the 120km race. In May, she and Serena Hab finished ninth in the CEIJY2* Costa Azul, Canelones in Uruguay. The pair aims for a similar result at the Pan American Endurance Championship. 

​As the sole U.S. competitor in the Senior division, Chase-Dunn (Riverside, California) will ride Chamalu, a 12-year-old gelding owned by Gabriel Alvarez. She has accumulated three fourth-place finishes this year at the Shine and Shine Only, Biltmore Challenge, and Almanor Hustle races.

Great Britain: Endurance challenge comes to Newbury

Newburytoday.co.uk - Full Article

Friday, 27th Sep 2013

Reporter: Malcolm Howe Sports Editor
Email: sport@newburynews.co.uk
Contact: 01635 886629

NEWBURY will be hosting its first ladies Endurance long distance horse riding event next year as part of the fifth World Arabian Horseracing Conference.The conference itself will be staged at London’s St James Theatre but the 400 delegates from around the world will be decamping to Newbury for two days on May 31 and June 1 for racing and the endurance run.

The endurance run will see an early morning start from The Racecourse with riders covering 120 kilometres.

Final course details and vantage points have yet to be arranged, but John Robertson of Endurance UK said: We hope to be able to stage the race for international teams of five lady riders aged 14 and up and with seven horses, of which the top three will score...

Read more here:
http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/2013/endurance-challenge-comes-to-newbury

Great Britain: Shahkeira Wins Highest Futurity Evaluation Score

Thisiscornwall.co.uk - Full Article

Equestrian by Kathryn Pearn, September 25, 2013

THE potential endurance horse, Shahkeira, gained the highest score ever awarded to an endurance horse in the 2013 Baileys Horse Feeds/British Equestrian Federation Futurity Evaluation series held at Tall Trees Arena, Camelford.

Jo Claridge from Phoenix Field Arabians, Cardinham, has been breeding horses for 23 years and Shahkeira is out of her mare, Shahlua.

The filly scored 9.23 to emerge with an elite premium indicating that this youngster has the potential and outlook to perform at international level.

"Shahkeira is the sixth foal we've bred from Shahlua and the fifth one by R Ali Bey," said Jo. "Shahkeira's full brothers, Ali Shahrif and Ali Shahmahl did well at the Futurity and Ali Shamahl has just competed in his first pleasure ride..."

Read more here:
http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Newquay-district-grassroots-sport-September-25/story-19842807-detail/story.html#axzz2g6QRNk8v

Australia: Howe lost for words

Mudgeeguardian.com.au - Full Article

John Howe would never know the feeling of scoring a century in an Ashes Test at Lords but winning the Best Managed Horse award at the annual Shahzada ride could come close.

The Green Gully horseman was the “overall winner” of the ultimate endurance event.

He becomes the third local in five years to win the event’s top award after Garry Bennett in 2009 and Sue Todd in 2010.

Howe, who achieved his 10,000 kilometres rug at the Mudgee Endurance Ride in May, was stunned to be named the winner of Shahzada.

“I was absolutely speechless. It was a big surprise,” he said.

“I came to Shahzada hoping to get my ninth buckle because I’m 60 next year and I always want to get my 10th when I turn 60..."

Read more here:
http://www.mudgeeguardian.com.au/story/1797855/howe-lost-for-words/?cs=1485