Al Rayyan Show Jumping from today

In what is a treat to show jumping connoisseurs, the Al Rayyan International Show Jumping Championship will be held from today, the second of its kind in a week organised by the Qatar Equestrian Federation (QEF).The championship will be held from 1pm at QEF’s main arena. The Al Rayyan event, like the Qatar International Show Jumping Championship, which  was held last week, will be a 4-star event. The three-day FEI approved event features a Grand Prix Class of 160cm high fences within the Arab League qualifications of riders and horses for the 2017 World Cup Finals. There are 9 events in total of which three will be contested today, while three each will be held tomorrow and Saturday, respectively.Competition 9 will be an FEI World Cup Open class event and will be open to top 30 riders from the Competition 6. The prize money on offer for the championship’s feature event is QR650,000. The tournament carries a total pursue of QR1.34mn. The Vet check was conducted for horses yesterday.The Al Rayyan Show Jumping Championship will also offer prizes to fans who turn up for the event, the organisers said. Mohammed Morshed al-Enizi, the Director of Public Relations at QEF, said fans can expect ‘spectacular surprises’ when attend the event. “We have arranged for special fan zones around the QEF’s Main Arena. Kids Zones have also been set up inside the compound. We saw amazing crowds last week and we expect a similar turnout later this week,” al-Enizi said yesterday. “From our side, the arrangements have been finalised and all the riders are already in town. Show jumping has mass following in Qatar. This event will go a long way in continuing with that tradition,” he addedSome of the top riders, including Qatar’s Olympic Games squad – Ali Yousef al-Rumaihi, Khalid al-Emadi, Ali bin Khalid al-Thani and Bassem Hassan Mohammed –  will be in action for three days.The Qatar International Show Jumping Championship was contested last week with the final Grand Prix class won by Derin Demirsoy of Turkey and his 12-year-old stallion Harry K.The 22-year-old Turkish rider is one of the riders who is expected to challenge for the main event on Saturday. “I will enjoy the victory now. My horses will have a couple of easy days. Its whole new week, so will start from zero. Today’s win will be difficult to replicate again but I will do my best,” Demirsoy had said after his victory last week. Saudi Arabia’s Ramzy Hamad al-Duhami, is in red-hot form and he will be a contender too. The Saudi rider enjoyed a great event last week as he won two events and finished second to Demirsoy in the feature event.