By Duane Fonseca -
With a slice of luck going his way Abdullah Ali Mohammed Al Amri seized victory in the 2024 running of the Gamilati Endurance Cup for Mares at Dubai International Endurance City in Seih Al Salaam on Thursday. Riding El Nize Chanika owned by F3 Stables, Al Amri and his mount completed the ride at an average pace of 27.9kph, with their timing of four hours, 15 minutes and 40 seconds (4:15:40) turning out to be the best after the elimination of M7 Endurance Stables’ Saeed Ahmad Al Shamsi and RO Balada on metabolic grounds.
The Gamilati Cup for Mares is contested over a 119km trip and was the third event on the HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Endurance Festival’s programme. And all credit to Al Amri and his nine-yearold bay mare for not wasting time and getting themselves into contention during the course of the second loop. The pair started the ride in 15th, but made the top 10 during the course of the second loop spanning 32kms.
M7 pair of Uruguayan Bryan Ferreira and Ro Generala were first to show, but lost the summit to Al Reef Ajban Stables’ Hamad Saleh Al Hammadi and Melody D’Elssanne during the second phase. The lead changed hands for a second time over the third loop (27km), which saw Saeed Ahmad Al Shamsi take over on the back of the M7 Endurance Stables-owned RO Balada, only to miss out on success when finding themselves eliminated on metabolic grounds.
Having reached 10th at the end of the second loop, Al Amri judged his ride perfectly and climbed up four spots during the third loop to make his bid for glory from sixth. Tweaking their tempo in the final loop over 20km proved sufficient for the pair as they cruised to the top after Al Shamsi’s elimination to win as their F3 Stables teammates Al Mheiri and Castlebar Tanama took second having started the day in 29th. Third place on the podium went to the M7 Endurance Stables pair of Khalifa Rashed Al Ameemi and Zehira De Lhom.
