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THEY were off in sparkling style as racing horses set the pace for a series of National Day celebrations across the island.
Friday witnessed the thrilling National Day Cup race run at the Rashid Equestrian and Horse Racing Club. The final and biggest race of the day was won by the favourite Azizi, owned by Mohameed Juma Mohammed Hassan, trained by Sami Saloom and ridden by Stephano Ladjadj.
He beat Unex El Greco to become the biggest winner of the day. The National Day Cup sponsored by Bahrain Petroleum Company was for imported horses and carried a cash prize of BD5,000.
The following morning BREEF held its National Day Endurance Championship, with many riders from various local stables joining the 120km and 80km qualifying races. The championship race consisted of five stages - the first two ran over 30kms, the third run over 25km the fourth over 20km and the final fifth stage over 15km.
Taking victory in this endurance endeavour was Bahrain Royal Endurance Team rider and Al Zaeem stable member Shaikh Ebrahim bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, who completed the 120km ride astride Kalharabi Katar in a total time of four hours, 54 minutes and 19 seconds, racing with an average speed of 24kph.
Runner-up was fellow Royal Endurance Team member and Victory Stables rider Jaafar Merza, who rode Sandine Phoenix, finishing in a total time of 4 hours, 55 minutes and 10 seconds. Third place went to Mansoor Al Khalidy, a member of the Al Khalidiya Stables, riding Derrom Sabre, who completed the race in 4 hours, 57 minutes and 16 seconds.
On Monday Twin Palms Riding Centre hosted its own National Day and Christmas Pony Camp. The latter will also be run today, again from 9am to 1pm.
The Dilmun Riding Stables also staged its own National Day Shows on Monday and Tuesday, including a Show Jumping Event, which featured a Green Horse Class with fences at 70cms, followed by its popular Pairs Jumping Event.
Tuesday’s Dressage Show was followed with testing at various levels. Later, fun came in the form of Pairs to Music in Fancy Dress. The full day of activities was concluded with a BBQ and quiz evening.
Check out the full reports and photographs from the camps and other show arena National Day celebrations in next week’s Too Hot To Trot!
This Saturday will see the second of the BREEF Show Jumping Championships be held at the BDF Equestrian Ground in Sakhir. The event will consist of two junior classes and three adult classes, the course can be walked for the first class at 8.30am with the show scheduled to commence at 9am.
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Bahraini company Horse Pride, a Tamkeen beneficiary which specialises in equestrian equipment, won the 2013 Most Outstanding SME Projects in the Arab World in the 8th edition of the Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Award for Young Business Leaders (YBL) which took place recently in Dubai.
Huda Mahmood Abdulla Janahi, owner and manager of the company, received the award from Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, at the awards ceremony held at the Dubai World Trade Centre under the patronage and with the attendance of Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, and attended by prominent officials and experts.
Mrs Janahi said: “I’m extremely pleased and proud as a Bahraini female entrepreneur to win this award which I consider to be an achievement for my country, Bahrain.
“I thank God first and foremost for this win which comes after 10 years of hard work and perseverance. The support of my husband and family over that period was also key, especially considering that my business is rather unconventional for a businesswoman. As far as I know, I am the only Arab woman in the region who owns and runs a business in this field.
“Tamkeen’s numerous business development and entrepreneurship programmes were a critical success factor to me over the course of developing my business.”
Tamkeen chairman and acting chief executive Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, congratulated Mrs Janahi on her achievement. “We are delighted to have a female Bahraini entrepreneur win this prestigious award,” he said. “Mrs Janahi is an example of the great talents we boast in Bahrain, and we shall continue to support Bahraini citizens and businesses to create more success stories in the future.”
Horse Pride has branches in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and in Bahrain on Budaiya Highway.
