Emir patronises equestrian festival

HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday patronised the closing races of HH The Emir’s Sword equestrian festival at the Racing and Equestrian Club, Al Rayyan.The event was attended by Sudanese President’s Assistant Abdulrahman al-Sadig al-Mahdi and Prince Abdulaziz bin Ahmed bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia.The festival’s closing races were also attended by HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani, HE Sheikh Jassim bin Khalifa al-Thani, HE the Advisory Council’s Speaker Mohamed bin Mubarak al-Khulaifi and a number of Sheikhs and ministers in addition to heads of diplomatic missions, horse owners and equestrian sport enthusiasts.Following the two feature races which were won by Ebraz and Chopin, the Emir handed over the Golden Sword to HE Sheikh Khalifa bin Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani and HH The Emir’s trophy to Maher Ibrahim Lutfallah, respectively. The Emir also handed the Silver Sword to Khalifa bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Attiyah, owner of AJS Gannas, the winner in the sixth race.The Emir also crowned the winners in the Showjumping Grand Prix held yesterday as part of the festival, where the winners were HE Sheikh Ali bin Khalid al-Thani (first), Abdullah al-Sharbatly (second), and Derin Demirsoy (third).