Dubai: Winning is fast becoming a way of life for 14-year-old Khalifa Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri.
The young champion from Al Wathba Stables won his first major open ride when he topped the 140km Abu Dhabi Endurance Festival Ride at the Emirates International Endurance Village in Al Wathba on Thursday.
Khalifa, who has already won two endurance rides here in the Al Wathba and President’s Cup Juniors Ride in the Boutheib Endurance Village, has previously had a second-place finish in the 160km President’s Cup endurance ride.
Thursday’s win came on 16-year-old Baraka Farid, a horse trained by his own father Ali Khalfan, the reigning European Open Endurance champion.
Khalifa and Baraka Farid were third after the first stage of 35km and then second after both the second and third loops of 34km and 31km respectively. However, in the fourth stage, Khalifa finished fourth, with Amy Louis going into the lead at the start of the final loop of 16km.
Khalifa made the most of his light weight and pushed his horse to produce a winning final loop, while Amy, on Nirida de Paute, slipped to a fourth-place finish behind Saeed Abdullah Bin Huzaim on Aghaab and Ganem Said Salim Al Owaisi on Ikland.
“This is the last big ride here in Al Wathba and I am very happy to win it. This is also my biggest win in the open category and I hope I can continue in this fashion,” said the Al Ain schoolboy.
“My father just kept telling me to keep pacing the horse at a speed that was comfortable. Today the heat was greater than it has been [of late] and conditions were a bit difficult. But in the end, we made it and I am very happy,” Khalifa said.
Thursday’s race was attended by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of ADEC among others.
Sultan Saif Al Nuaimi, Director General of Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club (ADEC) and Lara Sawaya, Director of the Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat-Racing Festival and Head of Ladies’ Racing in IFAHR, gave away the trophies.
Two rides will be held on Friday at the same venue, one a 100km ride for ladies and the second, a 120km event for private owners.
All three rides are part of the Abu Dhabi Endurance Festival, which is being staged here for the first time and also brings the curtain down on the endurance season at the Emirates International Endurance Village.
