Doha, Qatar – The first leg of the Global Champions Tour, presented by CN and CN WorldWide, is also about Qatar’s bid for the 2016 Olympics; banners on dozens of buildings in the capital Doha advertise this fact. For this week, however, the capital of the Persian Guld State Qatar will host the first leg of the Global Champions Tour.
Over 70 jumping horses that left Monday from Maastricht/Aachen Airport have arrived in Doha and stay in completely air-conditioned and spacious boxes. The horses are housed at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, where opposed to other parts of the country, the property is lush and green. Remarkably, the round competition arena is 100 meters in diameter and almost 400 meters in circumfrance.
The best of the best will be competing here including the top two world cup ranked, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Jessica Kürten. Jos Lansink (World Champion 2006), Malin Baryard-Johnsson, Christian Ahlmann, Michel Robert, Jeroen Dubbeldam and Albert Zoer are all part of the competitve field that many international shows would be jealous of.
Course designer Olaf Petersen from Germany has plenty of room to set-up a creative course. He will be assisted by Attef Shawki from the United Arab Emirates. The Global Champions Tour encourages the development of equestrian sport and has emplyed many people from the region. In fact, of the 63 employees, 39 are local.
Classes will be start on April 10th and include the qualification for the Grand Prix. The €300,000 class will be held on Sunday of which €100,000 will be awarded to the winner. The points earned at this show will count toward the final classification of the Global Champions Tour. Visit the Global Champions Tour website for more: www.globalchampionstour.com
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