Today's Edition
DUBAI (ALETIHAD)
Consistency in sport is pivotal and Fatma Al Marri turned up a shining example of it when delivering a facile victory for SM Private Stables in the Dubai Crown Prince Endurance Festival’s Private Stables competition.
The 120-kilometre event witnessed Al Marri make consistent leaps up the leaderboard on the back of Celebryta to bring herself to within striking distance, and then crank up the heat aboard her 12-year-old to win rather comfortably ahead of the rest of her rivals.
Al Marri and Celebryta completed the four-loop ride in four hours 14 minutes and 50 seconds (4:14:50), recording an average speed of 28.25km/h over the 120km distance.
Finishing second, 32 seconds in arrears, were Ebraheim Sabeel and Farzibus Cabirat, representing MAB Stables, who clocked 4:15:22, while a distant third were SS Private Stables pair of Suhail Al Ghailani and SW Kulmaalif, who came in at 4:19:12.
The Dubai Crown Prince Endurance Festival is held in honour of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai.
The ride began with Abdulla Al Tawash and his mount Full Options Niellans (SS Endurance Stables) seizing the initiative at the end of the first loop spanning 40km, with Al Marri and her mount placed 16th.
The latter began her ascent during the second loop spanning 35km, and climbed five spots to reach 11th even as Al Tawash ceded the advantage to his SS Endurance Stables teammate Saif Al Beljafla, who rode JM Jadjmili.
Al Marri made further progress during the third loop running over 25km and yanked herself up five spots to reach sixth going into the final loop. At the same time, Beljafla held onto his spot at the top of the summit.
Going into the final loop over 20km, Al Marri was 5 minutes and 37 seconds behind leader Beljafla and knew she had to go full throttle to have a chance of winning.
And Al Marri pushed hard during the course of the final phase, revving her mount and sending Celebryta flying at a pace that was nearly 8km/h quicker than the previous loop.
The end result was simply stunning as Al Marri and Celebryta ran home victorious with 32 seconds separating them from their second-placed Emirati compatriots Sabeel and Cabirat.
