After riding the only clear in the opening round of the World Cup-Qualifying Dubai Grand Prix yesterday, Sheikha Latifa Al Maktoum came unstuck against the clock, going from first to seventh. The rider, the only woman in the class, put together a flawless first round on her stallion, Kalaska de Semilly, showing spectators at Dubai Showjumping Championship why she alone from the UAE was good enough to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
But, last to go in the second round against the clock, she was late turning after a fence, and her horse bumped into the wing of another jump. Unsettled, Kalaska de Semilly clattered the double for eight faults and then refused the rustic upright for 13. The pair pulled it back together, completing the round without incurring more penalties, but the damage had been done. Sheikha Latifa, who was a member of the UAE's bronze medal-winning showjumping team at the 2007 Asian Games in Qatar, has already received a certificate of capability to compete at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky this September and October and she will be concentrating on her preparations for that event rather than qualifying for the indoor World Cup.
Less lucky was 2009 FEI World Cup qualifier, Ahmed al Junaibi. Al Junaibi, who was denied the chance to ride for the UAE in Las Vegas after the US authorities refused him a visa, had eight faults in the first round yesterday so was unable to progress to the second. "It was a shame," said the Picobello Wodiena rider. "Normally the Equestrian Federation have a summer programme and we go to Europe for three months and that really helps us.
"This season we only really started working the horses a few weeks ago and you need the experience of the big classes to really get them ready for events like this. I will go to Abu Dhabi and Sharjah and we will see what happens, but it is too late to qualify this year for me. The season started in September and the UAE rounds of the Arab League are the end of the season." The winner of the Dh170,000 class was Abdullah Sharbatly of Saudi Arabia on his new horse, Goldex. Four faults in the first round were carried through against the clock, but a confident and fast clear was enough to grab him top spot. Qatar's Ali Yousuf al Rumaihi was second with Ravenna 323, while Ahmed Ahmeen of the UAE was third with four faults on Kurtysse de Combord. Sharbatly's performance at the event, which saw him win two classes on Friday as well as the big class yesterday, has boosted him to the top of the Arab league ahead of previous leader, compatriot Prince Abdullah bin Metab.
"I will go to the top of the league now and I will also go to Abu Dhabi and Sharjah," said Sharbatly, who won Dh5,000 plus an extra Dh5,000 worth of gift vouchers for being the top rider of the competition as well as the Dh43,000 for first place. Earlier in the day, Katie Cunliffe and Cinderella 482 combined to win the National Juniors and Young Riders Class. Abdulrahman al Habsi won the National Grand Prix on Nemesis de Balliere.
@Email:stregoning@thenational.ae
