Al Duhami celebrates win after keeping his horse cool at Al Forsan
Ramzy Al Duhami credited keeping his horse, Ted, cool in the hot conditions for his success in winning the President of the UAE Cup during the Day 2 of the FEI Jumping Nations Cup at the Al Forsan International Sports Resort yesterday.
The Saudi Arabian prevailed in the jump-off to win from Norway’s Cecilie Hatteland on Alex and Edwin Smits of Switzerland atop Dandiego B Z.
“I’m so happy. I kept my horse as fresh as possible because of the [hot] weather,” said Al Duhami, who was a bronze medallist in the team jumping at the London Olympics in 2012.
“I saved my horse and I think it paid off. I saw a lot of horses tired after the first round. It was important to make the cut but it was also important to preserve the horse. Fortunately for me, I made the cut and kept my horse fresh for the jump-off.”
Al Duhami is a regular visitor to the UAE and pointed out that the victory in the event was his most important in the country to date.
“This was my biggest win in Abu Dhabi,” he said. “I have had this horse for only a year. He’s an up-and-coming horse and I have a lot of expectations on him.
“Hopefully, I can take him to the FEI World Equestrian Games [North Carolina in the US in September] and qualify him for the Tokyo Olympics.
“It’s important year with the World Games and the Asian Games almost at the same time. I have another horse [High Quality] for the Asian Games and I have also brought him here.”
Al Duhami is now hoping his 10-year-old bay gelding will be fresh for tomorrow’s Nations Cup, a four-rider, CSI 5-star team event.
“I hope there’s some energy left of him for another tough competition in two days,” he said. “We have arrived with some young riders and we are hopeful of another good showing in Abu Dhabi.”
Norway’s Hatteland was “pleased” with her second-place finish on her horse, Alex.
“He gave me two nice rides yesterday and the best performance so far today,” she said. “Now I feel he’s where he has to be, and in the future we can go faster on him.”