New world record set for 160km
Monday, January 21, 2008
The Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Endurance Cup held in the united Arab Emirates on 12 January 2008 is being hailed as the greatest endurance ride in the history of the sport after the world record breaking victory by UAE rider Omair Hussain Al Beloushi on a 10 year old Arab gelding Charlandre El Sharif.
The field included 3 of Britons leading endurance riders who flew their horses out 8 days before the ride. They were Janice Cockley-Adams with Khadidja du Pont, Anna Williams riding HS Saboteur, and Liz Taylor on Falina bint Chatanz.
The Omega sponsored event offered a total prize fund of AED 1,500,000 (208,000GBP) plus a Nissan 4x4 vehicle for each of the first 4 finishers as well as the magnificent winner’s trophy that cost over 47,000 GBP. This made the 160km (100 mile) ride the richest ever endurance competition.
The ride attracted 107 starters - the largest field ever seen outside of a major championship. Many of the top names from European endurance lined up alongside the cream of the professional endurance stables in the UAE and the Gulf region plus top riders from Malaysia, Australia and South America.
The competition was held at Dubai Endurance City an impressive purpose-built endurance stadium and vet gate set in the desert some 40km from Dubai.
A new world record for 160km
The race itself was breathtaking. The local UAE riders set off at a blistering pace. The eventual winner made his plans clear from the start and he was first in to Vet Gate 1 (32km ) covering the loop at 25.08 kmph.
The eventual winner set the agenda throughout the ride and those who wanted to challenge him had to ride his race. Over the next 5 stages the UAE rider never dropped below 23 kmph and even though he had a clear lead at the start of the final 19 km loop, he covered this last circuit in an amazing 30.29 km ph. Al Bloushi’s world record time was 6 hours 28 minutes 28 seconds, a speed of 24.71 kmph ( more than 15 mph) and slashes 13 minutes of the previous world best for 160km.
Amidst all of this the 3 British riders displayed all their experience and ability to ride in an adrenalin charged crowd of horses and not only stay clear of trouble but stick to their own ride plans.
The British contingent were well down the field at the first Vet Gate but they steadily worked through the field – improving their positions with each stage.
Janice Cockley-Adams – 4th European to finish
Janice Cockley-Adams was the first British rider to cross the line in a highly creditable 23rd place. This was the first ride in the desert for Cockely-Adams and she was thrilled to do so well. Cockley-Adams and Khadidja du Pont were the 4th European combination to finish. They put together a strong ride with consistently quick times to present at the Vet Gates. Their vet sheet shows the 10 year old Arab mare was in great shape throughout the ride. The only Europeans to better this British duo were all from Europe’s leading endurance nation, France – Laurent Mosti (9th), Elodie Le Labourier (18th) and Julien Lafaure (19th).
Swiss based Anna Williams and HS Saboteur came across the line 30 minutes behind Janice Cockley-Adams and also successfully passed the vet to finish in 27th place – the 8th European. To come from the depths of an Alpine winter and produce this result took skillful riding. Williams clearly used wisely all the knowledge she acquired from living and working in Dubai in the past.
Liz Taylor and Falina bint Chatanz completed the full 160km route but were unfortunately eliminated at the final vetting.
The weather on race day was close to perfect. It rained before the start and the race began at 6.00 am in cool conditions. During the day the winds were light and the sun not too bright – the temperatures peaked at around 18. Some of the Europeans took this as a green light to take on the locals, the results show that they underestimated the fact that only a week or so before their horses had been living and training in Europe’s winter. For example 12 of the very best and most experienced riders in France started this ride; just 3 of them passed the final vetting.
This is not just a story of acclimatisation - the course was very tough. This makes the winner’s achievement even more remarkable. Much of the route was highly canterable tracks but these were hard and concussive. However not all of the course was like this, there was a great deal of deep sand. This is hard to ride in. It is like riding in peat, the horse sinks and you fear that this stuff is tendon-busting as well as energy sapping. The local UAE trainers are said to routinely train in this sand, perhaps one part of the reason why they dominated this ride so completely.
With 9 of the first 10 riders from the UAE many seasoned endurance observers watching this ride concluded that the large well funded professional stables in the UAE were now training and competing at a different level from the rest of the endurance world. Others challenged this conclusion. A number of the European trainers and riders argued that in Europe the terrain is very different and the nature of the courses (and the places riders trained) made it impossible to maintain a steady, constant pace. For these reasons they felt that desert riding was just not what the European horses were trained for. They may be right, and perhaps it would have been a different result if the event had taken place in France, Britain or another European country – but one should not loose sight of the achievement of the winner. Omair Hussain Al Bloushi victory was impressive – the new world record is a great achievement.
