The country delegation is made up of four male and two female riders. The competitors, who arrived in Dubai on Sunday, January 23, are going to have to cover a trail of 160 kilometers in the sand of the desert in the country.
According to information by a spokesperson for the Brazilian team, the riders from Dubai are among the favourites, as the sport is very much practiced in the region. The competitors from Spain, France, Italy and the United States are also strong competitors.
Rider João Roberto de Souza Naves, from São Paulo, in southeastern Brazil, twice Brazilian champion in the 120-kilometer category, believes that the race is going to be difficult and different from those in Brazil as the climate in Dubai is hotter and the surface is more sandy. In his opinion, the Brazilian team is of great quality, homogenous and has prepared itself well.
Rider Newton Lins Filho, from Rio de Janeiro, also in southeastern Brazil, believes that the country has chances of winning medals in the team dispute.
Two of the Brazilian competitors are going to race as individuals, and the rest are going to compete as a team. The horse ridden by Lins Filho, NNL Sun Ray, has been under preparation for long distance races for the last three years.
Rider Silvia Eguchi, from the city of Jundiaí, in the interior of São Paulo state, is going to participate in a foreign championship for the first time and believes that it will be a great experience.
She has been in the sport since 1997, and was state champion in 2003; she also won the Visconde de Mauá race, in Rio de Janeiro, in the 80-kilometer race.
She won the Arabian Horse Grand Prix in the 100-kilometer category, the 2nd Avaré Cup, in the 160-kilometer category, and in 2004, she was São Paulo state champion in the 60-kilometer race.
The delegation is completed by Luciane Bagarolli, from Campinas (São Paulo state), Pedro Stephano Marino, from Bragança Paulista (São Paulo state) and José Mariano Sales Alves Júnior from Belo Horizonte, capital of the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.
The best Brazilian classification in international endurance was a fourth place in the World Endurance Championship for Young Riders (up to 21 years of age), in September 2003, in Italy.
The event, which takes place every two years, will take place in Bahrain in September this year, and will include Brazilian riders.
According to a spokesperson for the team, the six horses to dispute the race in Dubai were shipped on January 15, accompanied by vets Henrique Garcia and Marta Gruber, together with four stable boys.
The head of the delegation, José Armando Garcia, travelled together with the six riders last Sunday.
Countries Participating
Apart from Brazil, other countries to participate are South Africa, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Denmark, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, the United States, Finland, France, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Holland, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Luxemburg, Lithuania, Malaysia, Namibia, Norway, New Zealand, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and Uruguay.
ANBA ”“ Brazil-Arab News Agency