JEDDAH, 14 January 2008 — Saudi Khalid Al-Eid won the sixth round of the Arab Equestrian league on Saturday in Dubai. He rode his horse Al-Riyadh very well and did not incur any penalty.
The league is a qualifying event for the All Tech FEI World Equestrian Games to be held in 2010 in the USA.
Syrian rider Fadi Al-Zabibi came in second place on his mount Tyson. Al-Zabibi recorded a time of 48.40. He is still the leader of the league.
Third place went to his teammate Tariq Arnaout atop Colarado with 48.65 seconds.
Fourth place went to Saudi Ramzi Al-Dahammi with a time of 48.76 seconds. Shadi Ghareeb of Syria came in fifth with a time of 54.79 seconds and Saeed Al-Aboura of Jordan sixth with 55.45 seconds. “I thank God that my horse was strong and that God helped me win”, Al-Eid said after the victory.
Saudi teammate Prince Abdullah ibn Miteb said “ I am not upset with the league, Al-Eid deserves to win and the Syrian team deserves to be top of the league”.
Female rider Nouf Al-Eissa of Kuwait said she would have entered the Dubai round had she had enough time to prepare. She also commented of the impressive progress the Syrian team had made and spoke of her desire to continue in the event.
Abdullah Al-Marri of host UAE explained that he wanted to do well as the round was held in his country but then his horse was exhausted. He added “that he was happy for Al-Eid and for the league leaders.”
