Vet checks being carried out by the technical staff at Qatar Equestrian Federation’s (QEF) Outdoor Arena ahead of this week’s Al Rayyan International Show Jumping Championship.
DOHA: The three-day Al Rayyan International Show Jumping event kicks off today at Qatar Equestrian Federation’s (QEF) Outdoor Arena.
The series - which was launched in 2014 - is organised by QEF in cooperation with Al Shaqab, a member of Qatar Foundation.
More than 100 horses will feature in the three-day event with a total prize bag of €61.000. Riders from Qatar, Canada, France, Jordan and Morocco will feature in the event, organisers said. The tournament comes less than a week after the end of the final round of the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) which was staged at Al Shaqab.
This week’s event is a two-star tournament with nine competitions spread across three days. The feature event on Saturday will be the Grand Prix, a qualifier for the World Cup and a round of the Arab League.
The Grand Prix has an overall prize bag of €12,000, organisers said yesterday.
Badr Al Darwish, Secretary General of QEF said: “Al Rayyan International Show Jumping Championship is a key event on our annual calendar. A top field is ready for action. Young Qatari riders will also feature in the event. We look forward to some quality action.” Tournament Director Ali Al Rumaihi said: “We have seen good crowds throng the QEF’s Outdoor Arena over the years as we have always planned family activities for young kids. All in all, this week one again it will be a great show jumping festival that fans wait for every year.”
He added: “The passion for riding is increasing among the youth in the country. We see a high level of competition among the young participants and that excites us. The Qatar Equestrian Federation is doing its best to promote the sports of equestrian and I would say we are doing well.”
