By Duane Fonseca

Salim Ahmed Al Suwaidi did his home club proud when making history by winning the feature event of the first ever show jumping competition held at Kalba’s Corniche Park last week. The event was hosted by Sharjah Equestrian & Racing Club (SERC), who Al Suwaidi represents, and the Emirati rider put in a terrific performance aboard Diamond Way to win with a time of 40.12 seconds going around the circuit without fault.

Al Suwaidi did not have the fastest time on the clock, but he was one of two riders to have completed the second round without fault. The other, Karina Hovland of Norway, needed 42.5s to complete the ride aboard Everest D. The fastest to traverse the circuit where the fences were set at 1.40 metres was Chadi Gharib, who was clocked at 39.12s.

But the Syrian rider was denied glory by the fault he conceded, which took him out of the running for the title, but was not enough to keep him from securing the final spot on the podium. The Class 8 Open event was also won by an Emirati. Here, it was Ajman Equestrian Club’s Ali Abdulla Al Kumaiti who triumphed on Sugar Baby HRH, with compatriot Abdalla Hamad Al Kirbi of SERC second on Air Ukraine.

Amna Mohammed, representing Great Britain, was third on James VDB. Mohammed Osama Al Zabibi of Syria won the Class 6 Two Phases event (1.30m height) with Flash Gordon in a time of 18.52s, with Al Suwaidi placing second on Staphael III after clocking 19.35s. Hadi Nizam, another Syrian, was third on First Lady.

UAE’s Mohamed Shafi Al Remeithi (Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club) won the Class 5 One Round Against the Clock (1.40m) event with Caramba in a time of 61.94s, with Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri on Forever H second with 64.51s and Mohammed Al Owais third with 67.91s on the clock aboard Concietta. It was a UAE clean sweep in the Class 4 One Round Against the Clock (1.30m) event too with Fahad Ibrahim Al Hamoudi and Cascall taking victory with the fastest time of 55.96s.

A close second with 56.05s were Hazza Hamad Al Dhaheri and Eloy, and Al Suwaidi was third with Staphael III with 56.39s. Another Emirati rider to taste success was Saleh Mufrrej Al Karbi, who won the Class 1 Special Two Phases event (1m) with Super Trooper with a time of 31.5s. The show was part of the seventh week of the Emirates Longines Show Jumping League that was organised under the supervision of the UAE Equestrian & Racing Federation (UAEERF) and was sponsored by Swiss luxury watchmakers Longines.

The event was attended by a large number of officials and sponsors, including Sheikh Haitham bin Saqr Al Qasimi, deputy head of the office of HH the Ruler of Sharjah in Kalba. The winners were presented their awards by Sultan Mohammed Khalifa Al Yahyai, the director general of SERC, and Patrick Aoun, Longines regional brand manager for the Middle East.