Six-member UAE Team For Bahrain Endurance Championship More than 180 participants from 30 countries - 14 Dec 2005 A six-member endurance team has been provisionally chosen to take part in the FEI World Endurance Championship for Juniors and Young Riders (CH-M-E-JYR) to be held at Bahrain International Endurance Village premises in Sakir, Bahrain, on Saturday, December 17, 2005. The three-day championship is being organized by the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation under the supervision of International Equestre Federation, FEI. The first day will feature a number of official meetings and will be followed by an opening ceremony and a dinner banquet in honour of the participating countries. The second day will include veterinary tests and a meeting during which participants will be briefed about the race rules, regulations and route.

The main ride, which is a 120-km event, will be run on Saturday in five stages of 30 km, 30 km, 25 km, 20 km and 15 km respectively. The members of the UAE team include Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sheikh Juma Dalmook Al Maktoum, Sheikh Khalid bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Sheikh Abdullah bin Faisal Al Qassimi and Rashid Saeed Al Kamda. Sheikh Ahmed will ride eight-year-old chestnut gelding Jazyk, Sheikh Majid will partner nine-year-old bay gelding Orkawa, Sheikh Juma will ride nine-year-old bay gelding Wind Wood Zaatri, Sheikh Khalid will ride eight-year-old chestnut mare Miss Dancer, Sheikh Abdullah will ride 12-year-old bay mare Coolahlee Park Charlene and Rashid Saeed will partner 11-year-old grey gelding Silver Majesty. As many as 180 riders from different parts of the world including Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, USA, Great Britain, Brazil, Chile Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Russia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Namibia, Botswana, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Slovak Republic and Uruguay are vying in the championship. Most of the participating countries have sent in a six-member team to compete for the Team Gold. Being the host country Bahrain has deputed a 12-member team which is being led by Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation President Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and includes Federation First Vice-President Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

Over 100 riders for National Day Cup - 14 Dec 2005

A strong field of over 100 riders from the UAE and abroad are taking part in the United Arab Emirates National day Cup which will be held on Thursday, December 15, 2005, at the Emirates International Endurance Village, Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi. The 120-km FEI ride is one of the major rides in the UAE domestic circuit, and is being organized jointly by the Emirates International Endurance Committee (EIEC) and the UAE Equestrian and Racing Federation.

The 120-km event will be run in five stages of 32km, 30km, 24km, 18km and 16km respectively. And will be flagged off at 6.15 am.

Some of the prominent UAE riders include Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, Sheikha Madiya Hasher Mana Al Maktoum, Hasan Ahmed Mohammed Al Baloushi, Yousef Ahmed Al Baloushi, Mohammed Ali Al Shafar, Ali Hussain Al Baloushi, Ali Khlfan Al Jahouri, Mubarak Khalifa bin Shafya, and others.

Hussein Mohammed Hussein, Secretary General of the UAE Equestrian Federation, said that he was immensely satisfied with the number of participants. He added: "We are very pleased with the response not only from the region but from many other countries outside. The National Day Cup has come back to Al Wathba this year as the village was refurbished last year to make it more modern and state-of-the-art.'' Last year the Cup was held at Seih Assalem in Dubai.

The First Gulf Bank, which sponsored the last year's National Day Cup, is sponsoring the event this year too by earmarking one million dirham for the competition. "A total of Dh 600,000 will be distributed among the top ten riders who finish in the event," said Adnan Saif Sultan Al Nuaimi, Organising Committee Member and Director General of Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, at a press conference at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club premises on December 13, 2005.

"We are happy to be involved in this event for the second successive year. We thank Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Presidential Affairs and also Chairman of our bank for this sponsorship," said Hamad Obaid Al Ghafli of First Gulf Bank.