Abu Dhabi: A strong field of junior and young riders will take part in today's President's Cup 120km Two Star Ride for Juniors and Young Riders at the Boutheib Endurance Village in Al Khatem.
The 120km ride will be run in five stages of 30km, 30km, 24kms, 20kms and 16 kms, with the junior riders getting off to a mass start early this morning.
Ahmad Ali Al Sabri won the President's Cup Two Star Ride for Juniors and Young Riders last year on Pony Express Hipolyte.
Meanwhile, the Boutheib Endurance Village also staged a couple of qualifier rides and an 80km One Star ride yesterday.
Due to a large number of entries, the 80km One Star ride was run in two batches of nearly 100 horses each.
Mohammad Hamad Ahmad Al Kindi on Makfoul Du Breuil won one ride in an impressive time of 3hrs 10min, with Shehab Ahmad Mohammad Gazi on Nopoli Del MA second 32 seconds behind and Natalia Kamenskaya on Craig Roy Mark third in 3:10.33.
Three stages
Hashim Mousa Mohammad Ali Al Beloushi on Nindja De Paute topped each of the three stages to win another group of the 80km ride but in a much slower time of 3:20.41. Ayub Sher Mohammad Ghori of India on Kinabalu (3:21.37) and Rashid Ebrahim Ahmad Al Ali on Vunduba (3:35.05) finished second and third in this group.
The two groups in the 80km One Star event competed over three loops of 30kms, 30kms and 20kms.
