After a five-month hiatus due to national COVID-19 health and safety precautions, Season 3 of the popular annual local horse-riding competition series resumed in line with the phased lifting of restrictions. Clearly, the lack of spectators, in line with health guidelines, did not stop the participants from displaying their competitive spirit during Tour 10 that took place at the Qatar Equestrian Federation (QEF) Indoor Arena on August 7 and 8.

Riding veteran gelding Ulano, Qatar national equestrian team member Al Ajami’s time of 44.01 seconds in the 130/145cm jump off was enough to see him clinch first place in the Big Tour Class.

Cyrine Cherif, astride Collezione Cesaro Mikimoto, claimed the runner-up position. Hamad Nasser Al Qadi, riding S I E C Lonnie, finished third.

Organizing Committee Member Longines Hathab, Badr Al Darwish, awarded the Big Tour winners.

Earlier on in the day,  Al Qadi enjoyed greater success when he took first place in the Open Class 115/125 cm event, riding Gibria-B to victory in a faultless time of 56.71 seconds. Nasser Al Ghazali, on What A Pleasure, was second, while Mohammed Saeed Haidan, ended third.

Vice Chairman, Organizing Committee Longines Hathab, Omar Al Mannai, awarded the Open Class winners.

In Day 1 action, Salman Mohammed Al Emadi claimed the biggest prize with a win in the Medium Tour, riding Zorro Z to victory in a time of 52.06 seconds. Mohammed Saeed Haidan finished second on Miss Chilli, with Alqaqa Adel Nassar taking the final spot on the podium, riding Dubaii to third place.

The Medium Tour team event was won by Team Lusail (Mohammed Saeed Haidan on Miss Chilli; Hamad Nasser Al Qadi on S I E C Lonnie, and Mohammed Abdulla Juma on Davidoff Du Bois), in a time of 111.85 seconds.

Team Al Kass (Nasser Al Ghazali on What A Pleasure; and Mohammed Khalifa Albaker on Verona) finished second, while Team ExxonMobil (Jaber Rashid Al Amri on Argelith Squid; Saeed Nasser Al Qadi on Andreas SPB Z; and Khalid Mohammed Al Emadi on Eglantine Du Castelet) took third place.

The greatest drama on Day 1, however, was reserved for the Small Tour 110/115cm event that started off Tour 10. It saw Khalifa Abdulla Al Khaldi, on Dusty, and Mohammed Nasser Al Qadi, on Vlacido, declared joint winners when both riders clocked identical times of 27.96 seconds without any faults. Hamad Nasser Al Qadi, on Hugo Z, finished in third place.

The Longines Hathab – Qatar Equestrian Tour is organized and hosted jointly by QEF and Al Shaqab, member of Qatar Foundation.

Longines, ExxonMobil, and Salam International are the main partners of the series, which is open to Qataris and residents of Qatar.

Tour 11 will take place on August 14 and 15, and the Tour 12 finale over three days on August 27, 28, and 29. Both remaining Tours will be held at QEF, and will feature only the showjumping (Individual and Teams) discipline. The Dressage and Future Riders competitions, which were a part of the earlier legs, will not be taking place.

For the health and safety of equestrian fans, the respective tours will be held without spectators in the arena. However, fans can follow the thrilling action live on Al Kass TV.