Dubai: Hassan Bin Ali proved that a champion cannot forget a winning habit.
The winner of many an endurance ride proved he still has a lot of competitive spirit when he won the very fast-paced 120-km Shaikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Challenge endurance ride yesterday.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, along with Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance and Industry, attended yesterday s ride which was held at the Dubai International Endurance City under Shaikh Hamdan s patronage.
Ali, who returned to endurance after a long gap and won a ride in Abu Dhabi last season, came up on top after a truly fast-paced ride that saw many top guns make an early exit.
Riding 7-year-old gelding Al Jamaal Jafar, Ali came up with a terrific second loop with an average speed of over 27km/h and that helped him stay with the leaderboard.
The front runners included recent double gold medallist at the Pan Arab Games, Shaikh Mayed Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum, winner of the last ride here and at Boudtheib, Yousuf Ahmad Al Beloushi and Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri, who finished second in the last two rides.
Good pace
The first three loops of the five-loop 120-km ride witnessed the riders unleash a fast pace and a large number of the 114 who started at 6am fell by the wayside. Shaikh Mayed, Yousuf and Ali Khalfan all retired their horses between the third and fourth loop.
Ali, who was in 6th place after the first two stages, moved into second after the third and after that took the lead going into the final 12-km loop.
Mohammad Rasheed, who led over the first three loops, found the going tough and was in second place while young Omair Hussain Al Beloushi was in third.
The experienced Ali and Al Jamaal Jafar, after averaging over 25km/h for the first four loops, paced themselves well dropping to around 21 km/h for the final loop to win the first prize, a Nissan 4WD vehicle.
Results:
Hassan Bin Ali (Al Jamaal Jafar) 4 hrs 50 mins 17 secs:
Omair Hussain Al Beloushi (Koringkloof Indian Star) 4:56.24;
Mohammad Rashed Saeed Al Subose (Kishon Zeal) 5:11.09;
Hamad Mohammad Al Ahbadi (Agecroft Jos) 5:15.20;
Roshan Ali Shiraj Khan (Le-Wardi Daneska) 5:16.10.
Courtesy - Gulfnews.com
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