Winner of the Medium Tour, Mubarak Yousuf Al Rumaihi competing on Vivaldi K during the team event yesterday.
DOHA: Promising Qatari rider Mubarak Yousuf Al Rumaihi yesterday emerged a convincing winner with Vivaldi K, grabbing the honours in the Medium Tour battles on day one of the new Hathab show jumping season.
Vivaldi K finished ahead of 32 entries in a time of 39.01 seconds in the two-phased 120/130cm contest at Qatar Equestrian Federation’s (QEF) Indoor Arena.
Seasoned Qatari rider Nasser Al Ghazali was his magnificent self with Colibri 19, securing the second spot in a time of 40.19 seconds.
In third place was Saeed Nasser Al Qadi who was astride Daydreamer EC (40.21 seconds).
Al Rumaihi won QR 5,000 while Al Ghazali got richer by QR 4,000. Al Qadi won QR 3,000 for his third-placed finish.
Mohammed Al Ghazali (Alegro 84) and Mohammed Sultan Al Suwaidi (Numero Uno) completed the top-five.
Earlier in the day, Mohammed Abdulla kicked off the new season with a sublime ride with Venda F to seal his win in the Small Tour. In the round against the clock, Venda F clocked a time of 41.99 seconds as Abdulla picked up the top prize of QR 2,500.
Saeed Hamad Al Rashdi, astride Graffiti De Lully CH, secured the second spot in a time of 42.04 seconds. Al Rashdi won QR 2,000. Mohammed Salem Al Marri managed to finish in third spot with Gin Tonic Van De Kranenburg. Al Marri won QR 1,500 after clocking a time of 43.30 seconds.
Khalifa Abdulla Al Khaldi (Dusty) and Tamader Said Al Marri (Lucky Lady) completed the top five.
Tournament Director Ali Al Rumaihi yesterday said: “The new season is getting more attention compared to the previous season. We have more entries this time besides adding the Team Competition to our calendar or events.”
In the Team Competition yesterday, Al Salam International (QR 10,000, overall time 79.29 seconds) settled the issue ahead of Al Shaqab (QR 6,000, overall time 81.27 seconds) and Al Kass (QR 4,000, 82.09 seconds).
Al Salam International were represented by riders Mubarak Yousuf Al Rumaihi, Mohammed Al Ghazali and Khalifa Abdulla Al Khaldi. Second-placed Al Shaqab had Saeed Nasser Al Qadi on their roster while Al Kass had Nasser Al Ghazali, Ali Mohammed Al Marri and Mohammed Khalifa Albaker
Today, the final day of the opening round, the competitions kick off at 9.00am with young riders going through their paces in the 70/85cm class.
The all-important Big Tour will start at 5.30pm. The round against the clock (130/145cm) offers a total prize bag of QR 35,000. Riders above the age of 21 can feature in this event.
