By Duane Fonseca
In a gate to post manner Saeed Ahmad Al Shamsi and his riding partner Poli went through the motions to claim the Al Wasl Endurance Cup for SS Private Stables at Dubai International Endurance City on Monday. The 119km ride was divided into four phases with Al Shamsi dominating from start to finish as he and his 11yo Sultan Al Subousi trained partner, traversed the sands of Seeh Al Salam at an average speed of 26.76kph to complete the ride in four hours 26 minutes and 49 seconds (4:26.49).
Despite being in command, Al Shamsi and his team had to be wary of Zabeel Stables, whose riders were closing in consistently despite finding themselves way off the pace early on. In the end, Mansoor Khamis Al Shedi aboard Apex Archibald fought to finish second adrift in the runners up position (4:26.50), while his Zabeel teammate Abdulla Ali Alamri was a further three behind (4:26.53) on the back of Bobang Al Andalus.
Al Shedi started at 14th and moved up to sixth, a spot he held going into the final loop, while Alamri was placed 10th after the first loop and moved to fifth then a spot up before finishing third. The Seeh Al Salam Endurance Challenge over the same trip and also another competition to be broken into four loops was held the following day.
It witnessed Rashed Mohammed Al Mehairi landing the spoils for F3 Stables aboard A’Bandom’s Rockabilly with a time of 4:18.00. Al Mehairi started the race 23rd after the first loop spanning 40km and moved up to eighth at the end of the second loop over 32km.
It was a position he maintained over the third loop spanning 27km and made his bid for glory over the last 20km loop which saw him apply pressure and snatch victory ahead of MRM Stables’ pair of Mansour Saeed Al Farsi, who rode Tatarinu and finished 10secs behind with a time of 4:18.10. Abdulla Mohammed Al Hammadi was third aboard Al Reef Ajban Stables’ Stirlings Safari in a time of 4:18.29.
