Let the races begin!

Friday marked the opening day of the racing season. It was held at the beautiful Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club located in Sakhir.

Everyone watched in anticipation as the amazing horses thundered down the lush green racetrack. The horses and jockeys were adorned in beautiful stable racing colours while the stadium was packed full of excited spectators.

After the races I headed to the top training yard, the Royal Stables, and spoke with leading jockeys Ahmed Akbar, Brett Doyle and Rosie Jessop.

Akbar started racing at the age of 11 and quickly began to compete across the world after travelling to India to jumpstart his career.

India and Japan are just a couple of the countries Ahmed has raced in. He has now entered more than 1,000 races and has won at least 300 of them. His most memorable victory to date, he says, was the 1984 Japan Asian Conference aboard the horse Sting.

In Bahrain, Akbar says his biggest accomplishment has been winning the Kings Cup six times, an amazing feat for any jockey. Ahmed is the oldest jockey in Bahrain. In fact, at the age of 50, only one jockey has raced above this age. Terry Cain also a Royal Stables jockey, raced until the age of 60.

Race lovers are confident Akbar will pass this mark and even some suggest he will still be racing at the age of 100! Akbar has long been supported by the whole racing community and his family.

Next in the arsenal of jockeys coming under the spotlight was Doyle. He was born in Newmarket, a market town in the English county of Suffolk with an impressive racing history.

He started at the age of 16 and has been racing ever since. He has won an impressive 124 races out of the 947 he has competed in, including the Japanese 2000 Guineas Cup on No Reason.

In Bahrain, Doyle has won hundreds of races but his favourites include winning the Kings Cup on Blue Bass Billy. He is supported by his lovely wife, Yvonne, and three beautiful daughters. The family love Bahrain and Doyle hopes to continue his racing career here.

Lastly, was the young and beautiful jockey, Jessop. The only female jockey competing this year in the kingdom, Jessop, an English rose from Essex, started racing at the age of 17. She learned all her skills at the prestigious racing yard owned by Sir Mark Prescott.

Her racing successes include winning the 2012 Crown Prince Cup on Calculated Strike. Rosie has won more than 500 races. She is a young, vibrant woman who gives all the men a run for their money out on the track. In a sport dominated by men, Jessop has proven she is not one to mess with when it comes to the art of horse racing. She is determined and has a fierce competitive spirit and will be the one to watch this year, in my opinion.

Upcoming events

* Friday, BREEF Show Jumping Event at the BDF Equestrian Centre located in Sakhir and again on November 20

* Dilmun Stables Showjumping on November 27, adjoining the Dilmun Club in Saar.

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Twin Palms Riding Centre held its annual Open Day on Friday and welcomed visitors, who were treated to an impressive display of horsemanship, free pony rides, refreshments and fun.

It was a great opportunity for everybody to sample riding and sign up for lessons in the coming season, and it was good to see so many people turn up to take advantage and enjoy the opportunity.

The day saw a superb display of riding by Mohamed and his beautiful Fresian horse Hellbrand, a side-saddle demonstration by Adrienne Morrison, an excellent pony fancy dress parade, a fantastically-choreographed quadrille by the TPRC ladies, made up of Yvonne Addison riding The Chief, Kat Rushton riding Duke, Virginie Dreyer riding Athos, Morrison riding Onyx, Kia Jarnfeld riding Joker, Aimee Keen riding Rio, Ann Kooheji riding No Trix, Lucy Lunt Bell riding Darius, Maggie Andersson riding Banjo, Lauren van der Merwe riding Aztec, plus a gymkhana.

The famous Bahraini cowboys also visited and put on a superb display of riding. The day culminated with a show jumping competition, the first class being run as an exciting Accumulator in which riders racked up points for each fence that they jumped against the clock.

The last fence was the biggest and an optional challenge. Those who chose to jump it gained double points. Qassim Abbas riding Sedona rode an incredibly fast and clear round to win this class.

The second class was a Two Phase show jumping, where riders clear over the first seven jumps immediately turned on to jump five more fences in the timed phase.

It was good to see so many new combinations of horses and riders doing so well, Bella Rushton and her new ride Chico, Audrey Maingot and her new horse Loki, Jameela Hasied and her new ride Rio, just to name a few, all in the placings!

Particularly well done to Aimee Keen who had two fantastic rounds in the Two Phase competition to take both first and second places.

Results:
Accumulator 70-80cm with a joker fence at 90cm:
1st Qassim Abbas – Sedona
2nd Audrey Maingot – Loki
3rd Jameela Haseid – Rio
4th Fiona Halliday – Liberty Belle
5th Maryam Al Khalifa – The Chief
6th Bella Rushton – Chico
Two Phase 80-90cm:
1st Aimee Keen – Rio
2nd Aimee Keen – DJ Fleur
3rd Luna Dreyer – Athos
4th Fiona Halliday – Liberty Belle
5th Bella Rushton – Chico
6th Qassim Abbas - Sedona