By Duane Fonseca
Masa Adnan Tonbakji’s fine form in the saddle continued with the Syrian rider partnering F3 Stables owned El Nize Gamilah to a very narrow victory in the Ladies Ride of the HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Endurance Festival at Dubai International Endurance City on Monday.
The Festival is one of the most sought after events on the international endurance riding schedule and Tonbakji, with numerous big name successes already this season, calculated things perfectly aboard her 13yo mare, a Khalifa Ghanim Al Marri trainee, during the course of the four loop ride that saw her win with a time of three hours 27 minutes and 51 seconds (3:27.51) that was a result of maintaining an average speed of 29.16kph.
Her timing was a second quicker than Argentina’s Milena Mendez, who completed the ride aboard M7 Endurance Stables’ Mohammed Ahmed Al Subosi trained Jamal Beauty with a time of 3:27.52, in turn a further second quicker than the UAE’s Buthaina Khalid Al Redha, who guided the Ali Ghanim Al Marri schooled Midlandi Cooper into third for F3 Stables.
