ABU DHABI // The stage is set for the Sheikh Rashid bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Challenge Festival For Private Owners, a CEN 120-kilometre endurance ride to be held at the Emirates International Endurance Village in Al Wathba on Saturday.
Adnan Sultan Al Nuaimi, director-general of the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, said more than 100 riders will compete in the Dh1 million event. The purse will be distributed among all riders who complete the race. The winner will receive a new Lexus automobile.
He said the race will reinforce the UAE’s reputation as a major centre for international endurance rides.
The race begins at 7am and the distance is split into five phases marked yellow (40km), blue (27km), red (26km), orange (19km) and white (16km).
“We have introduced for the first time the 40km distance in a move aimed at renewing the routes of the endurance rides,” Al Nuaimi said.
Salem Al Subosi, the racing manager for Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, said the event is meant “to encourage small owners within the UAE as part of the national campaign to boost Arabian horse races at all levels”.
Al Subosi said the plan is to host four endurance races during the current season, three of them at the Emirates International Endurance Village and one at the Dubai International Endurance City at Seih Assalam.
Lara Sawaya, the executive director of the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, said: “We would like to thank Sheikh Rashid … for supporting and encouraging the Arabian horse races.
“Sheikh Hamdan … has been present all the time with his horses in the events which are staged by the festival, and he is the biggest supporter” of the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities.
“Aisha Al Romaithi, one of the girls who have won the gold for the UAE in Italy, represents the Seih Assalam stables of Sheikh Hamdan.”
The Flat Racing Festival is organised by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority and coordinated by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
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