Shaikh Hassan shines

Bahrain’s number one show jumper, Shaikh Hassan bin Rashid Al Khalifa led the contingency of Bahraini riders in the UAE by claiming a fourth place podium finish at the CSI2 international show jumping held at Al Ain in the UAE.

Riding his 10-year-old mare, HBR Radio Saint Clair, Shaikh Hassan was one of only six clear rounds on the Christa Heibach designed medium tour GP Course.

The Bahraini team captain raced his talented mare around the jump off course, galloping flat out to the last in hopes of winning it all, only to see the last fence fall, but did enough to secure a coveted fourth place podium spot with a round of 44.67 seconds and four faults.

The field was packed with world-class riders and their superb horses with rising star Hadi Nizam (42.32) on top, who won the jump off with a clear round in a time of 42.32.

Shaikh Hassan was joined on the podium by Olympic bronze medalist Khalid Al Eid and Italian pro Andrea Sakakini in second and third places respectively.

UAE’s Asian Games bronze medalist Abdulla Al Murai was fifth, and completing the podium was American professional Alice Debany.

Shaikh Hassan said, “To be on the podium with these superstars is an honour. I knew that I had to keep my foot on the gas the whole way to stand any chance. But I paid for it on the last jump, though I had an Olympic medalist to my right and an Asian Games medalist to my left.”

“That’s good company and now Bahrain is competing with the big boys! I now know one day soon I’ll be on top. We’re almost there but there’s still a long way to go,” said the elated champion.

Shaikh Hassan was also placed 13th in the GP riding HBR Vance, where he picked up world ranking points that would move him up the Longines world ranking list. Other Bahraini riders – Khalid Hilal Al Khatri, Ahmad Al Jahromi, Hamad Fakhrawi, and Ahmad Mansour – were also at the event, and were placed competitively.

The Al Ain show kick-started a 10-week run of international shows. The show includes a string of World Cup qualifiers and Longines world ranking classes in the UAE, with Shaikh Hassan and the riders competing throughout the season in the UAE and hoping to clinch more podiums for the Kingdom.

Shaikh Hassan and the riders thanked BREEF Chairman Shaikh Faisal bin Rashid Al Khalifa, Show Jumping Committee President Shaikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, and everyone at BREEF for their continued support.