Abu Dhabi: Around 150 riders will be seen in action in the 120-km National Day Cup endurance ride held to mark the 44th UAE National Day.
Adnan Sultan Al Nuaimi, Director General of the ADEC said. “The National Day Cup ride is very prestigious and a large number of top stars, both local and international, will be participating.”
“There will be 11 4WD cars on offer for the top 11 who successfully complete the 120-km ride which will be run in four stages of 40km, 35km, 25km and 20km,” he said.
Dr Abdullah Al Rayes, Director-General of the UAE National Archives, Stefano Daneri representing National Feed & Flour Production & Marketing, Ahmad Al Marzouqi representing IFHRA and Abu Dhabi Sports Court and Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Racing Festival, also attended the press conference.
Sawaya said, “This is an important ride in the domestic calendar. From the Festival’s side we will be giving away three Rolex watches.”
Speaking about the endurance series of HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Endurance Cup for teams in 2016, Sawaya said the Festival has received the approval of the FEI and confirmation of its president Manuel De Sousa for the rating of the series and added that efforts are on to introduce a points system for the series.
The series starts with the first ride in Portugal, second in Italy and third in France before culminating in the final in Abu Dhabi.
Festival’s stand:
Sawaya confirmed that a grand draw for the public who visited the Shaikh Mansour Festival’s stand at the Shaikh Zayed Heritage Festival will be held on Saturday at 7.20pm and will be shown live on YAS Sports Channel and Emarat Channel
“An amount of Dh30,000 will be drawn for 10 winners with another six iPhone 6’s and 5 iPads to be given away. The grand prize includes 2 cars (4WD Pathfinder — full options).
“Winners should be present in person to qualify for the prize,” Sawaya said.
