Horse racing-UAE govt advisory council passes draft law to combat horse doping

Reuters

By Maha El Dahan and Martin Dokoupil

ABU DHABI/DUBAI, June 17 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government advisory council passed a draft law against horse doping on Tuesday, aiming to clear a reputation tarnished by doping scandals in flat and endurance races.

The bill, which covers all equestrian disciplines from racing to polo, outlines financial penalties from 20,000 to 500,000 dirhams ($5,400-$136,100) for various doping offences.

A supervisory authority can also ban individuals from the sport for three years. In case of repeated offences a lifetime ban is an option.

"This is the first legislation on the level of law. Before there were just some regulations governing it," Rashid al-Shuraiki, the head of a Federal National Council (FNC) committee in charge of drafting the bill, told Reuters.

"We tried ... to have everything in it and not leave any loopholes, to give confidence to all participants in races in the UAE and to the UAE when it participates in races abroad," he said on the sidelines of a six-hour discussion about the draft.

Angered by doping in his Godolphin stables last year, UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum initiated last May a decree that made the import, sale, purchase or use of anabolic steroids in horse sports a criminal offence under the UAE penal laws.

Godolphin's reputation suffered a serious blow when the British Horseracing Authority banned former trainer Mahmood al-Zarooni for administering anabolic steroids to horses at his Moulton Paddock stables in Newmarket.

U.K. border authorities last year also seized a shipment of unlicensed veterinary goods from a Dubai government jet.

The incidents caused serious embarrassment to Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed, Britain's leading racehorse owner and the world champion in endurance, who closed Zarooni's stables with around 200 horses and ordered internal investigation.

FORBIDS TRADING

Zarooni won the 2012 Dubai World Cup - the world's richest horse race - for Godolphin with Monterosso, as well as English Classics the St Leger and 1,000 Guineas.

In September, Sheikh Mohammed's wife Princess Haya, who may run for re-election as a president of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), appointed former London police chief Lord Stevens to oversee an internal inquiry into the sheikh's global equine interests.

Lord Stevens's report cleared Sheikh Mohammed of any wrongdoing and concluded that Zarooni had acted alone.

In a document to the 40-member FNC explaining reasons behind drafting the law, the committee noted "a lack of consistency in test results from laboratories" which led to credibility doubts, adding international certification would be required.

The government is expected to send the draft to UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan for signing into law.

The draft law also forbids trading in banned substances and the purchase of such a substance is only allowed with special permission from the government. Controlled substances used for treating horses for ailments do not require such a permission but they are banned during the competition season.

The use of a number of mechanical and electrical devices used to massage horse muscles will also be banned, the FNC voted despite objections by a government minister that their use cannot be tested.

Endurance racing in the UAE, where both horses and riders often battle gruelling heat and desert dust in races as long as 160 km (99 miles) in one day, has been also mired in doping and horse welfare controversy.

The draft spelled out several doping cases where UAE riders were suspended as a result over the last two years. The FEI revised the discipline's rules earlier this month, saying its task force is looking at ways that new technology can be used to ensure horse welfare and provide a level playing field globally. (Writing by Martin Dokoupil; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Eighteen-Year-Old on $700 Horse Beats the Greats at Old Dominion

by Suzanne Bush

Extreme sports. You can visualize what they are even before you hear the pulsating music that plays along with the TV coverage. The pictures of skateboarders in midair, upside down, defying gravity, are wondrous and startling. How do they stay attached to those skateboards? The key words that define extreme sports: adrenalin and rush.

Imagine an extreme sport where determination replaces adrenalin and strategy replaces rush. Then spread the competition out over a period of time that overlaps one day's breakfast, lunch and dinner. One day's sunrise and sunset. Add some horses and a couple of rivers and mountains. Then give the sport a name that is both a promise and a challenge: endurance racing. It may not be as well-known as other branches of equestrian sports, but it is a clear and compelling connection to Americans' frontier past. Think about the Pony Express riders, racing across mountains, through snow and rain, night and day.

Most Esteemed

Two of the most esteemed endurance races in America are the Tevis Cup, a 100-mile race from Squaw Valley, Nevada to Auburn, California, and the Old Dominion, a 100-mile race through Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains. On a recent sweltering June weekend, a young rider from Norristown, Pennsylvania, defeated some of the country's premier endurance riders in the 32nd Old Dominion race. And that was just one of the highlights of Daryl Downs' weekend.

"He's absolutely remarkable! Only 10 horses finished because it was so hot. You talk about world class riders, and he beat them all!" Mike Marino, owner of Red Buffalo Ranch in Montgomery County, described his protégé's accomplishments. "Daryl graduated from high school Friday night, got up at 3:30 in the morning and drove to Virginia." Marino's enthusiasm and obvious pride erupt spontaneously as he talks about the convergence of events that brought a truly unique horse, an exceptional young rider and a seasoned endurance competitor together.

Downs didn't think about horses at all until the summer he was 12 years old. His mother had sent him and his sister to camp at Red Buffalo Ranch. "This kid came to me at 12. He came here, got into our camp and has never left," Marino said. "I converted him into a trail guide." But the trail guide had some reservations.

Slowest Horses

"It took me three years to get up enough confidence to lead the rides," Downs said. "I used to hang back on the slowest horses." Eventually, Downs began leading rides and then got interested in racing. "I started racing two years ago," he said. It wasn't that he was particularly athletic. He was looking for something different. "Nobody else did it, and it was something I was good at. People hear about it and think it's cool." Downs also wrestles. "Wrestling keeps me in shape for riding," and it also gives him something to do with all his energy in the winter.

But what about the horse? That's another story of chances taken and prizes won. "Here's a horse I bought at New Holland for $700," Marino said.

"Mike was getting ready to sell him, and I asked if I could try him," Downs explained as he described how the partnership between a novice endurance rider and a young horse named "Cincinnati" began.

Cincinnati

Marino chose the horse's name with a nod to history, and it turned out to be very prophetic. "It was the name of Ulysses Grant's favorite horse," Marino said. And it was in Virginia that Grant finally defeated General Robert E. Lee to end the Civil War. One of Marino's other great endurance horses is named Traveller, which was Lee's horse. Another Red Buffalo Ranch rider, Devon Hangey, was riding Traveller and keeping up with Downs for most of the race.

Although final times have not been released yet, Downs thinks it took him about 17 hours to finish the race. "The closest anyone was to him was about 10 minutes," Marino said. Not a bad trip for a relative newcomer. "That was my first 100. I did a 55-mile race in April and got a second in that," Downs explained as he described what it was like to ride through the day and into the night. The pit crews meet the riders at the vet stops, where all horses are checked by veterinarians. The veterinarians can pull horses out at any of these checkpoints. The riders might grab a sandwich at the checkpoint, while the pit crew sponges down the horse. Downs' pit crew included his mentor Marino, an experienced and successful endurance rider who dispensed encouragement as well as advice.

"Devon got pulled at 80 miles because her horse was lame. I was with someone a lot for the last five miles. Toward the end, Mike told me what I could be doing to make sure I stayed ahead."

Steady Pace

The race is as much about strategy as it is about speed. In fact, riders get bunched up together and stay together for long distances. "In the middle we were just hanging out, just trying to keep people from catching up to us," Downs explained. "The pace is pretty steady, trotting and cantering."

After nightfall, things change. "It's hard. You don't really know where you're going and you hope the horse knows where he's going. There are glow sticks every hundred yards. That's how you know you're in the right place."

The Old Dominion course follows a trail that is fraught with history. It starts at the Northern Virginia 4H Center near Front Royal, on a plot of ground originally purchased by the United States Army as an ideal place to train military horses. The trail ascends the Blue Ridge Mountains, and then descends to the Shenandoah River. The Indians named the river Shenandoah, "The Daughter of the Stars." Riders cross the river and follow the trail into Fort Valley and the Massanutten Mountains. The trail takes riders back across the river near Sherman's Gap, and then back to the 4H Center.

"When we got out of Sherman's Gap, there were still other people with me." But then Downs and his horse made their move. "Cincinnati went flying up the hill. We stopped and listened for other horses. Then we went flying down the hill. He lost a shoe, and stumbled, but we kept going." Downs crossed the finish line around 1:00 a.m. He remembers the heat, the darkness and the camaraderie he shared with other riders—many of whom were far more experienced. "They say this is the hardest race. It's hard for me to say because I haven't done that many. It was very dangerous weather to be doing stuff like that," he explained. But he's a careful rider who pays attention to conditioning his horse and how his horse is feeling. "We don't ride with a heart monitor. I rely on what the horse is doing—listen to his breathing."

The Old Dominion whetted his appetite for another challenge, and he's looking forward to his next race, the Vermont Moonlight 100 in July.

Downs and Hangey worked together to condition Cincinnati and Traveller for the race. They spent weeks riding the horses up and down the hills in Evansburg Park, near the Red Buffalo Ranch. "We knew they were ready," Downs said. Then he recalled what someone once told him about endurance riding. "The one who trains the best is the one who has the most horse left at the end." This time the one with the most horse left at the end was an 18 year-old who had just graduated from high school, riding a seven-year-old horse named for one of the country's most successful—and controversial—military leaders.

The Pennsylvania Equestrian

Mohammed follows as Hamdan clinches Italian Endurance Race title

Emirates247.com - Full Article

By Wam
Published Saturday, June 14, 2014

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai attended the Italian Endurance Race at Ancona at which the Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum clinched the title for the second year in a row.

With riders from 13 countries taking part in the event, Emirati riders dominated all four stages of the 120-km race and won the first three places.

Sheikh Hamdan finished first with a time of 05:20.53 hours followed by Sheikh Hasher bin Mohammed Thani Al Maktoum (05:20.54 hours) and Ghanem Al Oaisi shared the third place with Abdullah Al Marri (05:20.55 hours)...

Read more here:
http://www.emirates247.com/news/government/mohammed-follows-as-hamdan-clinches-italian-endurance-race-title-2014-06-14-1.552861

Canada: Ride continues to grow

Standard-freeholder.com - Full Article

By Lois Ann Baker, Cornwall Standard-Freeholder
Friday, June 13, 2014

Horse lovers from all over the world will be riding their way into the small hamlet of Berwick at the end of this month for the annual Stormont Endurance Race.

For over 10 years, the Ride has taken place in Berwick and over the past few years it has grown from a small local ride to an international event.

According to a press release from Sharon Anderegg, Logistics Manager of the Ride, there are only one or two events at this level in Canada and those take place out west.

The ride is sanctioned by the Ontario Competitive Trail Riding Association, Endurance Canada and the Federation Equestre Internationale in Switzerland. Approximately 50 to 65 riders take part in the annual event...

Read more here:
http://www.standard-freeholder.com/2014/06/13/ride-continues-to-grow

Turkey: Lasting to the Finish: Endurance

Dailysabah.com - Full Article

The horse has always occupied a special place in Turkish history and culture. The new sport of Endurance Racing is proving popular as it helps people to rediscover this connection

Jane Louise Kandur Published : 14.06.2014

I spent much of my childhood in the saddle, or longing to be in the saddle. Horseback riding was my great passion, and I pursued it whenever I could. However, upon moving to Turkey, I turned my back on the sport. I had young children now, and without transport to get to and from the stables, riding just wasn't feasible. Six years ago a friend who wanted to start riding dragged me to a stables. Since that day, I have been trying to ride, on and off, whenever I can. Growing up in the United States, riding was the sport of cowboys; it belonged to the people, and anyone could do it, without spending a fortune on fancy gear. You could gallop through the hills, jump over rivers, feel the wind on your face, all for a small fee. But in Turkey I saw that everyone was in shiny boots, spanking new jodhpurs and a luxurious velvet hard hat.

The price of such equipment here makes this is a serious investment, and once you have made it, you feel compelled to go on. If the student wants to buy their own horse, this is even more of an investment, with the most basic horse starting at a price of around 30,000 euros.

However, a few years ago I met Efe and Yasemin Çehreli, who run Sırapınar Country Club. They have a different approach to equestrian sports. Efe started riding in 1998 as a hobby. But he was dismayed that this was a sport for the elite, and anyone who did not have the money to purchase a potential champion was scorned. He knew that horses run in the blood of Turks; in Turkish history the horse was a revered and treasured companion. But what Efe saw was that the horse had now become a vehicle of status, being divorced from its historic past.

Efe and Yasemin decided that the best way to break this stranglehold on riding was to become involved in the Equestrian Federation of Turkey. Efe became a licensed rider in 1998 and in 2006 qualified as a judge for show jumping competitions and then for dressage competitions, finally qualifying as a judge for endurance races. In 2013 Efe was appointed as a member of the endurance committee by the president of the Equestrian Federation.The Çehrelis passion and leading cause is the promotion of endurance riding...

Read more here:
http://www.dailysabah.com/features/2014/06/14/lasting-to-the-finish-endurance

USA's Emilynn Dibassie tops the FEI Young Riders World Endurance Ranking

June 13 2014

As of May 31, 2014, USA's Emilynn Dibassie continues to dominate the Young Riders World Endurance Ranking, with over 100 points ahead of second place Teresa Sanchez of Uruguay. France's Nina Lissarrague is third. USA riders Taylor White and Taylor Stine rank 4th and 5th.

French riders hold the first two spots on the FEI Open Riders World Endurance Ranking. Philippe Tomas tops the list followed by Jean Philippe Frances. USA's Willemina DeBoer ranks third. Jeremy Reynolds has the 11th place, and Cheryl Van Deusen is 15th.

UAE riders hold the first two spots in the Open Combination World Ranking. Saif Ahmed Al Mozroui and Nopoli Del Ma are first, with Saeed Mohammed Khalifa Al Mehairi and Kedjari Des Serres are second. Tunisian rider Abdelkader Aouini and Nesseb are third. Steve Rojek and Trident are the highest ranking US rider in 12th.

Former church treasurer charged with murdering horse rider wife by deliberately swerving car off motorway and crashing into a tree

Dailymail.co.uk - Full Article

By MIA DE GRAAF
PUBLISHED: 05:39 EST, 11 June 2014

A former church treasurer has been charged with murdering his horse rider wife by swerving off a motorway and smashing their car into a tree.

Tracy Maria Walters, 48, died in hospital two days after the collision on the M1 near Markfield, Leicester.
Her husband, Ian John Walters, 50, was behind the wheel of the black Mitsubishi L200 Animal when they careered off the south carriageway into a tree on March 21.

Mr Walters was also flown to Coventry's University Hospital with serious injuries but survived.
Today police confirmed Walters, a former Parochial Church Council treasurer at Christ Church in Swindon, Wiltshire, has this week been charged with Mrs Walters' murder.

A spokesman for Leicester Police said he appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Monday and was remanded in custody to appear again on June 23.

Mrs Walters, from Swindon, was a keen endurance horse rider - an equestrian sport in which participants take part in competitive long distance races...

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Read more here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2654967/Former-church-treasurer-charged-murdering-horse-rider-wife-deliberately-swerving-car-motorway-crashing-tree.html#ixzz34R1EIazK