Al Ain: Marion Hughes of Ireland bagged her third prize in the showjumping competition at the Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Club when riding Heritage HHS Fortuna to victory in the Emaar Speed Challenge on Saturday.
The 2004 Irish Olympic team member had a bright start to the four-day competition for a total purse of 550,000 euros, including the President of the UAE Cup and the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup as the two featured prizes.
Ukraine emerged winners of the Nations Cup from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, all three earning the passage to the final in Barcelona in October from the single round qualifier for the Middle East.
Hughes rode two clear rounds to come out best in the jump-off by clocking 31.20 on the 13-year-old chestnut mare to win from Jorge Naeve of Germany onboard Cosimax. Ulrich Kirchhoff, a winning member of the Ukraine’s Nations Cup team in the second day of the competition, edged out Ireland’s Michael Hutchinson on Le Roi 10 to take third.
Nasser Al Ghazili of Qatar on Delloren clinched the Longines Grand Prix from compatriot Yousef Ali Al Rumaihi on Gunder.
Michel Hecart of France on Piman de Deviniere came in-between Bassem Hassan Mohammad to take third place and deny Qatar of a sweep of the first three places.
