Nasser Al Ghazali guides Aslan 69 over an obstacle.
Popular rider Nasser Al Ghazali yesterday captured Big Tour glory in the 11th round of Hathab Equestrian Tour, when he dazzled the crowds with two flawless rides on Aslan 69.
Al Ghazali’s eight-year-old gelding, the fastest among 13 contenders in the feature event of the penultimate round of the national show jumping competition, yesterday clocked a time of 72.34 secs in the first round.
He finished off with a brilliant 40.08-second ride to seal the top prize of QR8,750 at the Qatar Equestrian Federation’s Arena.
Daydreamer EC, with Saeed Nasser Al Qadi in the saddle, was the fastest in the first round, but made four errors during his ride that lasted for 70.76 secs.
But he made a brilliant comeback in the next round, completing the task in 42.10 to book the second spot on the podium and won QR7,000.
Salmeen Sultan Al Suwaidi guided Cantaro 32, the Qatar Armed Forces-owned gelding to complete the first round in 73.17 secs without any faults, and went on to win the third place in the final event of the two-day event after clocking a time of 45.56 in the winning round. He got richer by QR5,250.
Sheikh Abdulla bin Nasser Al Thani, on Dollar Van De Zuuthoeve, clocked a time of 73.07secs in the first round which saw him making eight errors.
But the duo fought back in the winning round with a flawless routine which lasted for 46.02 secs. He finished in the fourth spot and won a prize cheque for QR3,500.
French star Cyrine Cherif who piloted the Al Shaqab-owned 13-year-old and her stallion, Gerlin VD Waterkant, clocked 71.27 secs in the first round.
She made four errors, but had a decent ride in the winning round (46.38 secs) to get herself into the top five in the QR35,000 event. She won QR2,450 in prize money.
Earlier, Mohammed Saeed Haidan accounted for the top prize in the Open Class following an error-free ride on Apple Bee.
Haidan clocked a time of 56.91 secs to finish on top of a 40-strong field to win QR3,750.
Numero Uno – T, ridden by Mohammed Sultan Al Suwaidi, completed the same task in 57.28 secs with no faults to finish behind Haidan as he got richer by QR3,000.
Salmeen Sultan Al Suwaidi, who guided Guilder’s Empire Of The Sun in similar manner, clocked a time of 57.79 secs, to book the remaining spot on the podium.
He won QR2,250.
Bandar Mansoor Al Hoban (JK Horsetrucks Winner, 64.96 secs) and Khalid Sanad Al Nuaimi (Jazz De Semilly K Z (Dupli), 66.32 secs) completed the top five.
Qatar Equestrian Federation Secretary-General, Bader Al Darwish and Hathab Series Tournament Director, Ali Al Rumaihi were among the officials who presented the trophies to the podium winners.
