Qatar: French legend Tomas leads field of 58 in Endurance championship

Gulf-times.com - Full Article

March 6 2015

French legend Philippe Tomas leads a field of 58 in the 120km Endurance Championship at the CHI AL SHAQAB 2015 today. The only European contestant in the championship is a gold medal European team member and silver medallist at the 2012 World championship.

Riders from 10 countries will set off at Mesaieed. With a spectacular mass start at 5:00 in the morning they will set out for the Euros 200,000 prize money championship.

The first horse is expected at the finish line roughly six hours later.

One the most prominent athletes in the event will be the Frenchman Tomas, who has a reputation as a trainer and takes care of Al Shaqab horses when they are based in France. The world’s No.2 from Toulouse will ride Perlando HLM from Al Shaqab.
From his farm in Toulouse, Tomas runs a whole enterprise focused on long distance riding. For the European season, from March to October, he hosts around 100 horses from Al Shaqab stables, either for competition or breeding. The sport horses and their grooms go out for competition almost every weekend, either on 80 or 120 kilometre races, or do shorter stints, 40 or 60 kilometre for training towards the season in Qatar that opens in October again and lasts for the winter.

That way Tomas tours with a group of up to 15 horses every weekend, either riding one of his own horses or in company of the horses from Qatar. The Frenchman’s calendar has about 40 races per year.

Although Perlando HLM has spent two months on his farm, coming from Argentina and qualifying in Spain for larger events, Tomas will ride him for the first time. “If I can finish it will be a good result,” the only European contestant in the event, Tomas said...

Read more here:
http://www.gulf-times.com/sport/192/details/429792/french-legend-tomas-leads-field-of-58-in-endurance-championship

UAE: Al Jahouri wins Shaikh Zayed Bin Mansour Endurance Cup

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

Al Ghailani finishes second and Al Marri third in 120km event at Emirates International Endurance Village

Staff ReportPublished: 18:44 March 6, 2015

Abu Dhabi: Khalifa Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri onboard the eight-year-old Baraka Farid, representing Wathba Stables, landed the HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival‘s Shaikh Zayed Bin Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Juniors and Youth Endurance Cup, CEN 120km Endurance Ride at the Emirates International Endurance Village in Wathba on Friday.

The young rider did everything right to lead in the crucial stages of the gruelling race and land the trophy in great style.
The winner covered the distance in 03:20:24 seconds at an average speed of 29.94 kmph..

Read more here:
http://gulfnews.com/sport/uae/al-jahouri-wins-shaikh-zayed-bin-mansour-endurance-cup-1.1467746

UAE: Further questions raised over legitimacy of endurance races

Telegraph.co.uk - Full Article

Allegations have arisen that two President's Cup qualifying races in the UAE never actually took place

By Pippa Cuckson
7:09PM GMT 06 Mar 2015

The crisis in endurance racing took a further twist on Friday night, as questions were raised about whether two races recorded as having taken place in the UAE were actually run.

The races both provided qualifications for last month’s 160km President’s Cup, the richest race in the Middle East winter season. The first of the rides in question was a 120km race on January 21 in Dubai, which independent sources in the UAE have alleged did not take place; the second an 80km race on December 23 in Abu Dhabi.

The results and data from both have been recorded on the official website of the equestrian world's governing body (FEI) and last night remained there despite the concerns over their authenticity. That data includes detailed speeds and loop (ride segment) times identical to data from other previous races which definitely did take place...

Read more here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/11455916/Further-questions-raised-over-legitimacy-of-endurance-races.html

UAE: Too Good to be True?

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Cuckson Report | March 5, 2015

My phone has been red hot this past week, with colleagues keen to discuss the politics behind the FEI’s unprecedented cancellation of two UAE CEI’s as the endurance crisis escalates. So it was a relief when one buddy called with this practical query: will disaffiliating these rides affect horse and rider FEI qualifications for anything important?

I replied: “It’s funny you should ask.” Because I was just completing enquiries into a 120km CEI qualifier (for last month’s President’s Cup) whose results listings on the FEI database suggest that when you are short of qualifications for something important, one simple solution might be to apply a bit of creativity!

A few weeks ago, colleagues at Horse & Hound and myself were tipped off, by different people, that a scheduled ride in Dubai on January 21at was not all it seemed. I then asked further local sources who were genuinely surprised to learn that a FEI 2* qualifier took place on January 21st and could not understand how they had managed to miss it. Everything about it reads oddly...

Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/cuckson-report/too-good-to-be-true/

Endurance horses to vie for €200K at Qatar’s Al Shaqab ride

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

Horsetalk.co.nz | March 6, 2015

Just one European rider will line up in the 120km endurance competition at the CHI Al Shaqab competition this weekend, with nearly 60 riders from nine countries vying for €200,000 in prize money at Mesaid racetrack in Qatar.

French national champion Philippe Tomas will ride Perlando HLM from the Al Shaqab stables. Although the horse has spent two months on his farm in Toulouse, coming from Argentina and qualifying in Spain for larger events, it will be the first time Tomas has ridden the horse.

“If I can finish it will be a good result,” he said. “You don’t look towards the rider in front of you but you listen to your horse to make sure that it lasts until the finish line...”

Read more here:
http://horsetalk.co.nz/2015/03/06/endurance-horses-200k-qatar-al-shaqab/

UAE: Doubts raised over ‘bogus’ endurance race

Horse & Hound
Pippa Cuckson, March 5 2015
Allegations that a qualification race held in Dubai last month (21 January) was bogus has led to questions on how the FEI verifies the authenticity of competition results.

Sources in the UAE have told H&H that a 120km CEI listed ride did not take place. It was a late addition to the FEI calendar, and records a completion rate of 91% (41 horses out of 45), which surpasses any ride in Europe during 2014 and is nearly three times the normal completion rate in a Middle East CEI.

No overseas riders or officials were listed as participating, despite the large winter presence of visiting riders. No pictures can be traced and it is not mentioned on the UAE federation or Dubai Equestrian Club websites.

A FEI spokesman told H&H: “The CEI2* Dubai, which took place on 21 January 2015, was run as a qualifier for the President’s Cup (CEI3* Abu Dhabi, Al Wathba). The event was properly entered in the FEI calendar and, as per FEI requirements, a draft schedule was submitted and approved by the FEI headquarters. The results, officials’ reports, and vet cards were received on time and validated by the FEI headquarters.

“There was certainly a high completion rate at this particular event, but the efficacy of any
set of rules in any discipline cannot be judged on the basis of a single event.

“The FEI is constantly assessing its rules to ensure that they remain relevant.”

[More ...]

Great Britain: Hundreds of young horses to be assessed in bumper Futurity year

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

Alice Collins
27 February, 2015

The 11 venues and 12 dates for the 2015 BEF Futurity evaluation series have been announced. Due to low uptake in recent years, Scotland will no longer host a Futurity show.

More than 800 horses are likely to be assessed this year, a major leap up from the first shows in 2005, when 100 horses were forward.

The BEF’s head of equine development Jan Rogers said: “We are increasingly finding that breeders, buyers and riders of British-bred horses are finding a Futurity premium is a very useful aid in helping assess these horses.

“We are also seeing a marked improvement in the standard of youngsters entered in the Futurity, which is very good news for the future of British breeding.”

The evaluations are open to horses and ponies from foals to three-year-olds and aim to identify British-bred potential sport horses destined for top level careers in dressage, eventing, showjumping or endurance.

The Futurity is fast becoming recognised as an important first step in the careers of many potential top level horses and provides a valuable marketing tool for breeders...

Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/hundreds-of-horses-to-be-assessed-in-bumper-futurity-year-476153#RRyJm1eQFzxOI1Ez.99