Sports

Monday April 17, 2006

Qabil will get to ride on his Polly after all

By S. SIVABALAN

PETALING JAYA: National equestrian rider Qabil Ambak will get to ride his new horse, Polly, in the KL Grand Prix Tour, a support event of the FEI World Cup Horse Show Jumping Finals, at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from April 26-30 after all.

Asiapromote Ventures, the organisers of the championships, have decided to help Qabil by forking out the money to transport his horse from Belgium.

RIDE ON: Qabil Ambak will get to ride his new horse, Polly, after all for the KL Grand Prix Tour later this month.
Besides the KL Grand Prix Tour, the other support events of the World Cup Finals are the Young Riders series and Asian Classic.

Initially, Qabil wanted to use another horse, Camelias, because it was too expensive for him to bring Polly to KL for just one event.

The show director of the World Cup Finals, Peter Imran Winton, said: “It’s a form of good gesture. Qabil is a Malaysian rider. Since we are the hosts, we have decided to help him out.

“One palette on the plane to transport horses costs RM45,000 and it can house three horses at one time. We are helping him to pay RM15,000 to bring his horse here. Actually, we made this offer to Qabil last week.”

This is the first time that the World Cup Finals will be held outside Europe and the United States in their 28-year history.

Syed Omar Almohdzar will be the only Malaysian competing in the World Cup Finals, which offer a total prize money of RM2.8mil.

Two riders from South-East Asia – Michelle Barrera and Toni Leviste of the Philippines – have qualified on merit to compete in the Finals.

A total 42 of the world’s top riders have so far confirmed participation, among them defending champion Meredith Michaels-Beerhaum of Germany.

In the Finals in Las Vegas last year, Beerhaum rode Shutterfly to become the first woman to win the World Cup Finals after 18 years.

Tickets for the Finals, priced from RM10 to RM60, are available from Asiapromote at
www.klworldcupfinal.com or Ticket Axcess at 03-7711 5000. Or log on to
www.axcess.com.my.

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