Dubai: Latifa Al Shaikh of the Kingdom Stables is the first Saudi jockey in history to win first place in the Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa World Endurance Championships.
The Kingdom team is sponsored by Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.
Some 30 women jockeys from all over the world took part in the 120km race held in Bahrain on Saturday.
It consisted of five enduring phases. Top riders from Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman took part in this race which was the first women's event of the season. Nine horses were disqualified - six in the first stage, two in the third and one in the fourth. Clocking five hours, 22 minutes and six seconds, Latifa finished ahead of her main opponent Manal Fakhrawi (5:22:52) of the Bahrain Royal Endurance Team.
Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation President awarded the cup to Latifa.
She expressed her happiness at winning the championship as she described it as extremely challenging since she was competing against world women jockeys.
Latifa dedicated her achievement to Prince Al Waleed who congratulated the jockey and the team during a telephone conversation.
Prince Al Waleed and Princess Amerah Al Taweel received the 35 members of the Kingdom Team at the Kingdom Resort in Riyadh and awarded them 1 million riyals (Dh0.98m) including six cars in acknowledgement of their recent achievements.
