His Highness The President of the United Arab Emirates President Cup

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, Emirates International Endurance Village and our sponsors, Omega, Emirates Call, United Design, Paris Gallery, Emirates Motor Company, Bovis Lend Lease and Max Group, I would like to welcome our International Competitors who represent 11 nations. Some have had little time to relax since winning their World Championship medals and I thank them for returning to compete in the Presidents Cup. We are delighted that Gianluca Laliscia, the captain of the victorious Italian team, has come to compete in Abu Dhabi. To achieve this standard takes dedication and hours of training. It is enlightening that the two other Italian riders, Carlo Di Battista and Ercoli Enrico are you men, just 17, who one day may be World Champions and ar the youngest international competitors in the President's Cup.

Last year, Emirates International Endurance Village were the Crown Jewel sponsors of the most famous endurance ride in the world, the Western States Trail Ride, known universally as the Tevis Cup. I welcome here the joint winners, Becky Spencer and Jeremy Reynolds. While I was there I met someone who in the bounds of the Tevis is a living Legend, Hal Hall. He is modest about his achievements, but I will tell you. He has won the Tevis three times. He has completed it 24 times and was inducted into the American Endurance Ride Conference Hall of Fame in 2000. He is here to answer your questions.

On a global scale, UAE riders have won numerous awards and have won the President's Cup every year. Al Wathba stables have proved unbeatable for the past three years so we wait and see if they can do it once more. They face tough opposition from Al Reef Stables. Their rider, Abdullah Khamis Ali Saeed, won the inaugural ride in 2000 and was second in 2003. I know that both Ismail Mohammed and Ali Al Muhairi have a strong team of riders who aim to win the title for Dubai.

I wish them all well and thank you, the members of the media, for you contribution in making the President of the UAE Endurance Cup the most famous ride in the Middle East - The Crown Jewel of Middle East Endurance!