Qatari rider Saeed Nasser al-Qadi piloted his trusted gelding Jessico 4 to victory on the opening day of the 10th leg of the Hathab Qatar Equestrian Tour.
At the Al Shaqab Indoor arena yesterday, al-Qadi and Jessico 4 combined in splendid fashion to win the Medium Tour class, the feature event of the day. The pair finished their round in 61.39 secs to emerge fastest.
A second behind of the winner was Mubarak Yousuf al-Rumaihi, who guided Vivaldi K to runner-up finish. Mohamed Said Haidan came third with Damorano in 73.92 secs, well behind the top two.
In the Small Tour, Abdulla Rashid al-Amri emerged triumphant with What A Lady Van De Smis. The pair combined two finish fastest in 33.09 secs.
Mohamed al-Ghazali (Casanova SCH) finished second, while Ghanim Nasser al-Qadi (Al Bareq) took the third spot.
Today, the dressage events (Level 1 and 2) will be held in the morning and will be followed by the Open Class and Big Tour events later in the afternoon and evening.
There are two more rounds of Hathab remaining after the 10th leg. Hathab, meaning ‘Canter’ in Arabic, is an initiative of HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, president of the Qatar Olympic Committee. The championship is jointly organised by Al Shaqab and Qatar Equestrian Federation.
The series, which carries a total prize money of QR1 million, is open for Qatari nationals and also to residents of Qatar.  Organisers aim to improve the standard of horse riding among Qatari youths through Hathab, while also encouraging the involvement of private stables and individual horse owners to increase awareness of horsemanship as part of Qatar’s history and tradition. Results of the competition will be used in the selection process of riders to represent Qatar in future international competitions. Each leg will carry points, with only top seven results to be counted, and an overall winner to be declared at the end of series. 

Results
Comp. (2) Medium Tour - Table A, One round against the clock, Art. 238.2.1, 120/130cm, Prize Money QR20,000
1. Saeed Nasser al-Qadi (Jessico 4) Time: 61.39secs. Prize money: QR5,000
2. Mubarak Yousuf al-Rumaihi (Vivaldi K) 62.39 secs. QR4,000
3. Mohamed Said Haidan (Damorano) 73.92 secs. QR3,000

Comp. (1) Small Tour - Table A, Special two phases, Art. 274.5.6, 100/115cm, Prize Money QR10,000
1. Abdulla Rashid al-Amri (What A Lady Van De Smis) Time: 33.09. Prize money:QR2,500
2. Mohamed al-Ghazali (Casanova SCH) 37.82 secs. QR2,000
3.Ghanim Nasser al-Qadi (Al Bareq) 37.85 secs. QR1,500