IAEJ Announce Winner Of 2013 Bureau Award: Pippa Cuckson (GBR) for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism

Equijournalists.com

The International Alliance of Equestrian Journalists (IAEJ) has announced today that British journalist Pippa Cuckson has been awarded the 2013 Bureau Award, which is decided by members of the IAEJ Bureau. Cuckson has long been a credit to her profession but it is her intrepid reporting of the scandal surrounding the endurance sport in the Middle East for which the Bureau wishes to recognize her with the award for 2013.

Established in 2012, the award was created to honor members of the equestrian community for outstanding contributions to the industry. George H Morris was the inaugural recipient.

Cuckson has boundless enthusiasm for getting to the heart of the matter while always adhering to the principles of journalism. Having started out in newspapers, she spent 20 years on the editorial team at Horse & Hound, latterly as deputy editor. Following a seven year break working in the racing industry, Cuckson resumed journalism as a freelance in 2009, contributing regularly to The Daily Telegraph, H&H, Horse Sport International and Chronicle of the Horse. She is also a frequent contributor to Country Life writing on a range of topics, notably classical music and renewable energy, the latter for which she was recently presented with a journalism award by leading UK political weekly, The Spectator.

Cuckson’s concern about the high rate of horse fatalities, injuries and doping cases in Middle East Endurance, goes back to the late 1990s, when she was deputy editor of Horse & Hound. In April 2012 she attended the endurance debate at the FEI open forum and made the salutary discovery that things had become significantly worse in the last decade. She reported the debate in a number of publications but then began to dig deeper. “Largely though, I was unable to interest anyone in stories about it, firstly because of the distraction of the London 2012 Olympic Games, and also the reluctance, fear even, of critics to go on the record,” says Cuckson. “This is still a factor now. A number of key stories circulating on the internet still have not had the proper scrutiny they deserve in mainstream publications.”

Finally, a window of opportunity came in April 2013 with the doping scandal at Godolphin.

“A number of racing media were looking for connections between Sheikh Mohammed’s racing and endurance operations, because his disgraced Godolphin trainer, Al Zarooni, had previously worked in an endurance stable run by trainer Mubarak Bin Shafya who is well known to the FEI Tribunal,” explains Cuckson. “I then spent four solid days reading every single FEI Tribunal report involving the UAE, and tortuously tracking who owned the horses through the FEI database and national federation website. The sheer weight of doping cases from stables owned by Sheikh Mohammed or other members of his immediate family was astonishing.”

Timing is everything. Just as Cuckson was coming to grips with the enormity of the problem and the implications for horse welfare, the Belgian and Swiss Federations were intensifying their lobbying of the FEI. “I wrote a piece for the Daily Telegraph pulling the various strands together and it has snowballed from there.”

Cuckson does not view her commitment to this issue as a crusade.

“I am just doing what any news reporter ought to be doing, because this issue provides a snapshot of the two issues that will ultimately destroy equestrian sport as we know it – our responsibilities to horses when we use them as a piece of sporting machinery; and how the moral compass of stakeholders seizes up when they get a sniff of big money.”

Cuckson will be presented with the award at the IAEJ General Meeting during 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France.

UAE: Hamad guides Loca Linda to victory in Endurance Cup

Khaleejtimes.com - Full Article

Hisham Al Gizouli / 5 January 2014
Shaikh Mansour and Shaikh Hazza attended the races

Hamad Obaid Rashed Al Kaabi partnered his eight-year-old crossbred mare Loca Linda to victory in the CEN 100km Al Ettihad Endurance Cup For Private Owners Only (UAE) at the Emirates Endurance Village here on Saturday. The winner covered the distance in 3 hours 34 minutes and 40 seconds at an average speed of 27.950km/ hour to cross the finish line two minutes ahead of Uruguayan contender Jaonatan Rivera Iriarte on board nine-year-old Part Arab mare HC Golden Queen. Yousif Mohammed Hassan Al Hammadi, astride Arabian gelding Sangha Fageole, was a minute away back in third.

Meanwhile, 84 riders from UAE and elsewhere started the race under ideal winter weather conditions, but only less than half of the field (34 riders) have completed the race or passed the final vet test...

Read more here:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/sport/inside_sport.asp?xfile=/data/nationsports/2014/January/nationsports_January25.xml§ion=nationsports

UAE: Endurance Festival in Portugal

Khaleejtimes.com - Full Article

Hisham Al Gizouli / 4 January 2014

Shaikh Mansour show will be held over three days in April which will see 15 UAE riders take part.

The Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Endurance Festival will be held over three days at Frontiera in the neighborhoods of the Portuguese capital Lisbon from April 25 to 27, 0214, it was unveiled on Friday.

The event will be held under the directives of Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.

“The festival will host four different rides including a 160km (3 stars), 120km (2 stars open), 120km (1 star open for junior and youth riders) and 80km Qualifier,” said Lara Sawaya, director of the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, chairman of Ladies Racing Committee in the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR) and president of the Higher Organising Committee of the Endurance Festival...

Read more here:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/sport/inside_sport.asp?xfile=/data/nationsports/2014/January/nationsports_January20.xml§ion=nationsports

Bahrain: BREEF organises Shaikh Faisal bin Hamad Al Khalifa National Arabian Horse Show 2014

BNA.bh

2 January 2014

Manama, Jan. 2. (BNA) Following directives from the Honorary President of the Bahraini Royal Equestrians and Endurance Federation (BREEF) Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the late Shaikh Faisal bin Hamad Al Khalifa National Arabian Horse Show (Local Produce) will be held on January 15 and 16 at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir.

Royal Endurance Team manager Dr. Khalid Ahmed Hassan affirmed the importance of consolidating efforts in order to organise the tournament in an outstanding way, worthy of its precious name and in order to implement the directives of Shaikh Nasser in this regard, pointing out that BREEF has already started taking the necessary steps to equip the site to establish the tournament as required and invite the stables to participate in the tournament.

Dr. Khalid asserted that the committee will spare no effort to put in place all requirements of the success of the tournament, which commemorates the late Sheikh Faisal who was a lover of horses and constantly participated in BREEF’s events.

He noted that BREEF, led by Shaikh Faisal bin Rashid Al Khalifa, will ensure the success of the tournament so as to promote the endurance sport, one of the kingdom's deep-rooted sports.


BREEF urged participants to fill in the forms on its website (http://www.equestrianbahrain.com/show.php?id) or obtain additional information through its Instagram account (BAHRAINNF).

Ecuador: Rider warned, horse owner banned in doping case

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

By Horsetalk.co.nz on Dec 29, 2013

Young Ecuadorian rider Daniela Moreno has received a formal warning after the horse she was assigned to ride in an FEI-sanctioned event tested positive for phenylbutazone and flunixin.

The breeder who rented the horse to her copped a two-year ban and was fined 2000 Swiss francs (CHF), plus costs...

Read more here:
http://horsetalk.co.nz/2013/12/29/ecuadorian-rider-warned-horse-owner-banned-doping-case/#axzz2oz8GZfxQ

UAE: Emirates Endurance Championship will be held in Al Wathba next Saturday

Emirates247.com - Full Article

By Wam
Published Thursday, December 26, 2013

In implementation of the directives of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and President of the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, the Emirates Endurance Championship will be held at Emirates International Endurance Village in Al Wathba next Saturday.

The 120-km race is organised by the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club in cooperation with Emirates International Endurance Village...

Read more here:
http://www.emirates247.com/sports/local/emirates-endurance-championship-will-be-held-in-al-wathba-next-saturday-2013-12-26-1.532619

Emirates Racing Authority Cracks Down on Medications in UAE

Horsereporter.com - Full Article

December 10, 2013
By Pamela@horsereporter

December 10, 2013, Dubai ~ In a continuing effort to ensure the safety of horses and riders, Emirates Racing Association (ERA) Stewards are delivering messages through fines for medication and other types of infractions found in the UAE racing world. The message was delivered by John Zucal, ERA Chief Steward, that a recent inquiry into a report received from the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory proved that the prohibited substance ibuprofen had been detected in the post-race urine sample taken from DEVDAS (IRE) after it competed and ran second in Race 2 the Emirates Holiday (1400metres) at Meydan on 7 November 2013. This finding has been confirmed by the Singapore Turf Club Laboratory.

Evidence was taken from Mr. Ernst Oertel, trainer of DEVDAS (IRE), Veterinarian Dr. Louise Barbesgaard, Central Veterinary Research Laboratory Chief Analyst Mr. Peter Albert and ERA Head Veterinary Officer, Dr. David Sykes...

Read more here:
http://www.horsereporter.com/2013/12/10/emirates-racing-authority-cracks-down-on-medications-in-uae/