Second: Omair Husain Abdulla Al Bloushi UAE - Silversprings Kabir Arwa (Best Condition)
Third: Naser Al Marzouki UAE - Kaysand Farrazah
Second: Omair Husain Abdulla Al Bloushi UAE - Silversprings Kabir Arwa (Best Condition) Third: Naser Al Marzouki UAE - Kaysand Farrazah |
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I beat the morning prayer up this morning - 4:45 AM, grabbed a cup of coffee, and Paula Nascimento and I drove to the venue for the 6 AM start of the 10th running of the President's Cup, more formally known as "HH The President of the United Arab Emirates Endurance Cup - the Crown Jewel of Middle East Endurance."
76 riders left on Loop 1 in the dark in a quite non-anarchic start. I saw one horse rearing, but nobody took off as if from a starting gate, and there was no bucking, no falling off. With some of the best horses in the UAE in the race, it would likely be another fast one: Charlandre El Sharif of Al Reef Stables, the current 160-km world record holder (6:28:28, in the 2008 Shaikh Mohammed Cup), was being ridden by Yousef Al Bloushi; Kaysand Farrazah of Al Aasfa Stables, winner of the President's Cup in 2006 and 2008, and 2nd and Best Condition in 2007 with Sheikh Majid (in 6:47:41), was being ridden by Naser Al Marzouki.
It was 55* F and damp, but no wind and no sand in the air. Iet only took 1 hour, 18 minutes, and 10 seconds for the first horse and rider, Omair Al Bloushi on Silversprings Kabir Arwa, to come in to the first vet gate just as the sun was appearing through the ground layer of fog/cloud. He took only 50 seconds to pulse down! Six more horses from the UAE, including Charlandre El Sharif, arrived within two minutes, all posting a 25+ km/h clip, and the rest of the field came pouring steadily in. Just 22 minutes behind the leaders came the Americans, John Crandell and Jan Worthington, along with Shaikha Madiya Hasher Al Maktoum, riding her grey stallion Solid Asa Rock. They all pulsed down in under 3 minutes. Jan was happy, "We're going right on 12 mph." To her amusement, she was stopped outside the vet gate by an interviewer with a TV camera.
Eliminated for lameness already at gate 1 were unlucky riders Rebecca Arnold of Germany, Farah Ahmed Abu Nameh of Jordan, UAE rider Saif Al Faresi, and Italian Patrizia Giacchero.
Some of us seem to be sleeping in shifts: I got to bed at midnight, journalists Cidinha Franzao and Paula Nascimento got to bed at 3 AM, I woke at 4 AM, they got up at 6 AM. The reason I was up at 4 was not because my job started this early, but because my next door neighbor came strolling and crooning down the hall at that time, slammed his door, and continued singing. I didn't dare put in my earplugs, or I'd miss my alarm clock. Well, at least it wasn't a bad voice...
I joined the Americans for the breakfast buffet at the Mafraq (salad, anyone?), then followed them on the 30-minute drive to the ride venue. The weather was clearing, so this time I could see landmarks for driving - I THINK I've got all the turns and roundabouts right now to make it there on my own. Although driving back is a different matter.
Some of the foreign entrants were exercising their horses, having emerged from their quarantine barns, either handwalking or out riding. We just saw a couple of other horses out on the sand course, always followed by a vehicle or two. The two American riders, John Crandell and Jan Worthington, took their horses Melika (LR Jasuur Melika) and Leon (Golden Lightning) out for an hour ride. Lisa Green practiced handing water bottles off to both of them as they trotted past her. I got out to take pictures at one spot, and Leon came up and sniffed my pockets, because he thought I might have some carrots in there.
All is Golden in Abu Dhabi... the earth and the sky. Sand on the ground, in the air, between your toes, in your eyeballs. My plane landed in the wee hours of Thursday morning in what looked like a fog, but what turned out to be a sandstorm, which blew steadily all day.
Three different people said the weather is supposed to clear tomorrow, but those were foreigners. The locals say this will stick around for a while, which could help to make Saturday's 10th running of the 160-km President's Cup interesting. Another important item that could make things interesting is the new set of FEI qualification rules that may possibly keep a good number of UAE horses in the stables.
Lots of familiar faces popped up in the morning at the Hotel Mafraq, at breakfast, at the Press Conference in Dubai, at the hotel lunch buffet, at the evening dinner party.
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At the stables, where Melika and Leon had been turned out in the sand paddock all night, they were brought in for the first of several smaller grain feedings they’d get throughout the day. Their legs hadn’t been wrapped, but after a cool night walking around in cold sand, there was only the slightest filling in a couple of legs. Both horses looked tired, but content. Leon had lost some weight, but Melika looked the same as she did before the ride.
Everybody worked on packing up gear and hay and grain in trunks and sacks for John to take with him when he traveled with the horses by plane tomorrow, from Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam to Florida.
Wendy and John took the horses out for a long walk in the desert, then brought them in for another grain feeding. Then everybody left for the hotel to attend to their own packing. Some were leaving tonight, tomorrow night, and the next night; I’d be moving to Shaikha Madiya’s guest house at her stables in the desert outside of Dubai for the next two weeks.
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The 10th Running of the His Highness the President of the UAE Endurance Cup FEI CEI*** 160 km will be held at the Emirates International Endurance Village, Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi on February 14, 2009.
The race is sponsored by Hydra Properties, Shaikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan's Al Wathba breeding stables of Normandy, France, and Al Awani General Enterprises Establishment, whose support for equestrian activities in general and endurance races in particular is an integrated partnership between the economic and sport sectors of the UAE.
Foreign riders:
Belgium - Maritza Pereira - Taborah De Sier
France - Phillippe Benoit - Akim Du Boulve
- Caroline Denayer - Kouleur Du Parc
- Pascale Dietsch - Hifrane Du Barthas
Australia - Penny Toft - Kitt
- Kristie McGaffin - Castlebar Darthvader
- Meg Wade - Castlebar Kalahari
Spain - Jon Zabalua Dorronsoro - Eteldjel De Peyrinie
Portugal - Rui Pereira - Trovador Da Oliveirinha
- Joao Raposo - Titanic
USA - Janice Worthington - Golden LIghtning
- John Crandell - LR Jasuur Melika
Italy - Simona Garatti - Drago Sauro
- Patrizia Giacchero - Sunny Boy
- Cinzia Iacchelli - Missouri
Germany - Belinda Hitzler - Shagar 5
Stefanie Arnold - TBA
Rebecca Arnold - TBA
Poland - Beata Dzikowska - Cyryl
Kamila Kart - Cert
Jordan - Farah Abunameh - Zarazeen
