It was Mohammed Ghanem Al Hajri (UAE) and Pour Le Poussage (Polytraum x Ladalco) that took home Saturday's Longines FEI World Cup in Al Ain.
Only two riders managed to clear the first round, but with 25% of the participants qualifying for the second round a total of nine riders entered the ring for another chance to claim valuable World Cup points in the Arab League. In addition to the two clear riders – Mohammed Ghanem Al Hajri and Abdulrahman Alrajhi (KSA) – one rider qualified with a time fault, five riders carried four faults and one rider had five faults ahead of the second round.
Al Hajri rode a safe second round with Pour Le Poussage to collect one time penalty, but it was good enough to win as Alrajhi and Chilli Pepper van de Helle (Cumano x Sheyenne de Baugy) also got one time penalty and crossed the finish line 1,59 seconds behind Al Hajri.
Third place went to Shk. Majid Bin Abdullah Al Qassimi (UAE) with Celtion (Veron x Indorado) after having one time penalty in both rounds. David Will (GER) ended fourth riding Mic Mac du Tillard (Cruising x Galoubet A), followed by Jörg Naeve (GER) and Carena 11 (Corrado I x Alcatraz) in fifth.
Text © World of Showjumping // Photo © Sinan Jordan