Abu Dhabi: Saeed Mohammad Khalifa Al Mehairi, winner of the 160-km three-star His Highness The President’s Cup ride in February, served notice of his intentions in defending his title in the big ride to be held on February 13 next year, with a superb win in Saturday’s 100-km Al Wathba Cup for Private Owners Endurance Ride at the Emirates International Endurance Village in Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi.
Al Mehairi rode seven-year-old Esraar to a narrow win over Uruguay’s Jonatan Rivera Iriarte on HH Ciabu in the four-stage ride.
Al Mehairi, who won the President’s Cup on Murieb, was 17th after the first 40km and then moved into 7th place after the next 25 km. The young UAE ace then took the lead after the next 19km with the Uruguayan Iriarte serving up a steady pace in third place. At the end it was a close tussle and the UAE rider on Esraar finished 34 seconds ahead of his rival to score another emphatic win.
Rashed Ahmad Al Baloushi on Dakar Al Oasis finished third for the UAE while the next three spots were takesn by riders from India, Pakistan and Uruguay, before the UAE’s lady rider Shathra Al Hajjaj on Rafaela took 7th place to make up for her close friend Nesreen Khasro’s elimination. Khasro’s horse Castlebar Caviar failed to clear the final vet check due to metabolic reasons.
