:: Bahrain Show Jumping

Show Jumping

Season 2004

News Archive

Search by Date

Search News

and

Back to News Headlines page

Shaikh Hassan Surges Ahead

Shaikh Hassan bin Rashid Al Khalifa stays at the top of the Grand Prix championship standings in the BREEF showjumping season, following his impressive victory in the most recent competition held this past weekend in Budaiya.

The official points update was released yesterday by the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (BREEF) Showjumping Committee. Shaikh Hassan came away with 14 markers from his latest win. He took his overall season tally to 297 points with seven competitions still remaining. His rise to first place came at the expense of Ali Essa Jawad, who did not score any points in this week’s event. Jawad dropped to second with 285 points, narrowly ahead of Sami Ghazwan and Juan Fernandez de Mesa, who trail just five points behind in joint third. De Mesa improved his standing with a victory in one of the competition classes held in the last event. Yaser Al Shaikh is fifth with 263 points, with Abbas Isa sixth on 252 and Khalid Al Khatri seventh on 251. Benny Diricx, one of the table’s fastest rising participants, moved into the top eight with 241 points.

The Grand Prix title is one of four being contested this 2009-’10 season. The other categories are Senior Rider, Junior Rider and Horse of the Year. Ghazwan currently leads the Senior Rider category with 608 points. Isa is in second with 566, while Diricx made a significant jump to third where he has 563 points. Shaikh Hassan is fourth overall among all the seniors with 552 markers – a solitary point ahead of Salman Faraj. Jawad (543 points), Al Shaikh (512) and de Mesa (509) rounded out the leading eight.

The juniors are currently led by Oscar Lauri, who took his season tally to 291 points after the most recent competition. Andrew Scopes stayed second with 285 points, while Juliana Cortes remained third on 231. The top three are miles ahead of the rest of the field. Abdelali Ashoor remained fourth with 192 points, Natasha Owen – another winner this past week – fifth on 188 points, and Astrid Jespers sixth on 148.

Finally, among the 80 horses taking part this season, Chilli moved up to take the current best performer tag with 297 points from all competitions. He displaced Graffin from first place. Graffin, who hasn’t scored any points in the previous two showjumping events, is now second with 284 markers – two ahead of third-placed Al Khalidiyah Aberdeen Road. A further point back is Dong Hoi de Lorme, with Fairooz (279), Eurocommerce Balisano (275), Al Khalidiyah Albury Devillion (271), and ARG Reinette (263) complete the best eight.

The next event on the BREEF showjumping calendar is scheduled to take place on February 12.