I finally took an opportunity I had to stick and ball for the first time since the fall. It felt great to get out on the field and stroke a few balls around the place. It had been over four months since I had hit a ball. Now, all I need to do is get the horses fit enough, and hope that it remains dry enough, to complete the comeback this year.
I’ve been having fun at Zack’s Tack. I’m in the shop every day and sometimes am manning it myself. It feels great to be back in retail. It’s been a few years since my last saddlery shop and I am enjoying reconnecting with people at a retail level.
I started in the saddlery industry in 1987 with a retail shop in Singapore. Not surprisingly some of the brands I introduced back then are still brands I am associated with today. I guess it proves that a quality product never dies. I am a great believer that you get more value for money from a good quality product.
The saddlery industry is exciting to me today as the first day I started in it. There is always something new being introduced. Some are excellent new products like LAS Helmets or the new polo fashions that have become so popular the world over. It was great to find and introduce new products like the Penta helmets, which are the new generation design of jumping helmets, but which retail at half the price of competing brands available in Malaysia. There is a real satisfaction in being able to bring that to Malaysia.
Over the years I have also seen some lemons that people have tried to introduce. One French company tried to introduce a weighted divers belt for beginner riders, “to help them sit deeper in the saddle”. I remember seeing this at a saddlery trade show and wondering how someone could try to sell this as a “safe” product for beginners. Imagine if the beginner were to lose his balance - the weighted belt would throw him further off balance and with less mobility, his fall would be that much harder. As a horseman, I’m glad weighted beginner riders’ belts never took off.
I guess you have to be a horseman to see these things. It does however underline the curious fact that not everyone in the saddlery industry is a horseman. Especially in Malaysia and Singapore.
After my 4 am update yesterday, we saw Spanish rider Ponton take off on her 6th loop. Our 6 am update saw her taking off on her 7th and final loop. By this time I had managed to stand in a red ant hill and I was battling ants in my pants. Not fun when you’ve been up all night and about to go live on TV to millions of people in 102 countries. Luckily Zulu came back on our wrap-up show for the last loop.
We thought there would much more of a horse-race between the 2nd and 3rd horses but the Argentinean horse kicked strongly, coming home at an incredible 28 km/h on the last loop.
It was great to see UAE come home together to win the team gold. Absolutely everyone had said they have the best horses but the common belief was that they couldn’t work together to get a team result. How happy they must have been to prove everyone wrong. They brought their horses in just 3 days before the start, while most of the other travelers came in 3 weeks before. They proved an advantage of the horses staying comfortable at home for as long as possible. They also went some way to disproving the humidity factor. Of course the rain helped. Three Middle East countries in the team medals. What a result!
I invited Dr Nik Isahak onto the show to give us a Malaysian perspective. I disagreed with him in that I didn’t think it should be all doom and gloom: Malaysia proved ourselves magnificent hosts and excellent organisers. And hopefully we will be able to learn from the results, or lack of results as they case might be. Not one team finisher must be incredibly disappointing for Tuanku. Only 48 horses finished of 127 starters. Not a great stat but at least there were no deaths or serious injuries to horses.
Congrats to Md Aizizie and Halim, the only two Malaysians who managed to finish. To get full results of everything, including what happened at every stage, please go to the WEC results page http://www.endurance.net/2008WEC/
After commentating the last 2 hours, we all had a party in the ESPN tent because they had done such a great job despite losing the editing facility from the lightning strike. Dave Kaden was a great guy to get to know, a kindred spirit.The two girls, Edleen and Lisa had done a great job at the show. Lisa was outstanding, handling the presentation when you consider she had never presented a horse show before.
Natasha and I made a quick departure to try and get some sleep. I needed it the most because by the time I got to bed I had been going nearly 30 hours straight. Natasha, who had gone back to the hotel the night before, managed to go to Pasar Payang to get our kids some great soft toys while I got some sleep. In the late afternoon we started the drive back to KL. On the way back, Natasha pointed out that I had finally been involved in endurance, the only sport I had never been involved in before. Having to call the ride wasn’t easy. But it was fulfilling to be able to do it. I learned a lot along to way. Thanks for the experience, WEC.
Commentating for ESPN is a blast! We did a pre-show of 25 minutes, then went live to 102 countries from 1725 hrs. Lisa Wong presented it and I commentated with David Kaden, an ex-National Endurance Champion of USA. We had Technical Advisor and Chief Steward Derek “Zulu” Leibenberg and Endurance.Net editor Steph Teeter as guests. Once they were flagged off at 1730, the time seemed to fly. Before knew it, the lead batch of five riders were coming back in. Maybe it was because they were flying out on course. They came in with an average speed of 20 km/h, which means they were running around 27 or 28 km/h when you take into account they all made at least one water point and 1 crew point along the route.
First in and vetted was Maria Alvarez Ponton of Spain. The Uruguayans had pushed the pace all the way in the 1st loop but Sheik Hamdan of UAE was faster to vet out than World No 2 Pio Olascoaga Amaya of Uruguay. Qatar’s Al Marri checked in 4th while Sheik Ahmed was with the lead group in 5th. Best of the Malaysians is dato’ Awang running in 53rd position about 30 minutes behind the leaders. The team is looking like they are sticking to plan, all clocking in close to each other with Shu’aib in 55th, Tuanku Mizan in 57th, Faizal 59th and Rosdam 62nd.
As they went out on the 2nd loop and almighty thunderstorm broke over Lembah Bidong, inundating the track, the village and just about everyone here. The lighting shot out TV cameras, PC’s, and even struck the media lounge.  Our ESPN studio fell victim to another shot later on, and we lost our editing capabilities too, so we took to shooting the hourly updates just from live footage, and we had to shoot from the ESPN HQ and equipment tent instead of the studio.
Meanwhile Al Marri of Qatar took over the lead after the 2nd phase, about a minute ahead of Alvarez Ponton (ESP). The two UAE Sheiks vetted out in 3rd and 4th. There are six UAE riders in the 12 twelve! The Uruguayans have dropped back a little, taking just a little longer to get their horses to the vet check han the first four. Dato’ Awang has stepped up his pace and moved up 20 placings to sit 22 mins behind the leaders in 37th place. He just ran the 2nd loop in an average speed of 17.22 km/h. The rest of the Malaysians still around the same placings. So far 27 horses have been vetted out so far, leaving a field of 100 still in it.
Maria Alvarez Ponton the first into the crewing area after the 3rd loop. Qatar’s Al Marri is just behind. Sultan Ahmed Sultan bin Sulayem is 3rd in and Argentinean Agustin Vita rides into 4th place. Bad news for Malaysia as Navidad is lame at the Vet Check and Dato’ Awang is disappointed again in his 5th World Endurance Championship.  Other Malaysian individuals already vetted out are Dato’ Abdulah Taib (Gate 2), Yusri (Gate 2), and young Firdaus (Gate 1).
In the team standings UAE leads from Belgium and Spain. France has had one team member vetted out so they are down to three riders in their team but currently still hold 4th place. Then it is Bahrain, Spain and Portugal. Australia is in 7th. Malaysia is still in it, in 11th.
3:00 am Update: Spanish rider Maria Alvarez Ponton is still the individual leader. She has led almost all the way on Nobby. Qatari Abdulla Al Marri is still hanging in there, in 2nd, just 3 minutes behind. Argy Agustin Vita has moved up to 3rd, about 12 minutes off the leader. Sultan Ahmed bin Sultan Sulayem is the best of the UAE riders in 4th. UAE have 5 in the top 10 atfer the 4th phase. Rachel Jaumotte of Belgium is the big mover. She has moved up from 15th after the 1st phase to sit in 5th now. The leading pack has now gone out on the 23 km 5th phase. So far 43 horses are already out of the race. 84 competitors still left in it. UAE still leads the team standings, about 26 mins only ahead of Spain. France are 3rd, followed by Bahrain, Qatar, Belgium and Australia respectively. More news on that at the next update.
The lightning had blown out our editing capabilities so we’ve had to call whatever we had onscreen in our hourly updates, with no edited footage from the last hour. Finally we had a good break. Just when I went on air with the 4:00 am update, the leader Maria Alvarez Ponton came trotting in, completing phase 5. We had our cameras on her as the crew stripped the saddle off and got to work on pulsing down Nobby’s heartrate.  She has kept up a relentless pace and the way her crew were working on her horse, she presented really quickly, even after completing 135 km. If she keeps up this pace she might even be on the last loop by the time we get back on air for the morning show from 6:30 am.
Derek âZuluâ Liebenberg, Technical Advisor and Chief Steward of the World Endurance Championship took riders and teams through a brief explanation of the course at the Technical Briefing.
The 160 km course is divided into 7 phases.
Phase 1 â 28.8 km
The track is generally good. The 1st Phase has 8 water points, each holding 12 x 1,000 litre water troughs. 8 of the troughs will have drinking water while 4 will have ice water. The water points are approximately 3.5 km apart. There are 4 checkpoints and 1 crew point midway through the loop. There are 5 road crossings where the police will be deployed to ensure any traffic is stopped to allow the horse to cross safely. There is one technical section that involves a series of turns and a sandy section of about 60 m near in the long run just off the beach. Holding time after Phase 1 is 40 minutes.
Phase 2 â 27 km
This phase is considered a very good loop. The track is very good except for a short section with some small stones. There are 6 water points, 1 crew point and 7 check points along the route. Holding time after Phase 2 is 50 minutes.
Phase 3 â 28.8 km
The third phase is the same loop as the first phase, except that the loop will be run in the opposite direction. Holding time after Phase 3 is 50 minutes.
Phase 4 â 27 km
The fourth phase is the same loop as the second phase, except that the loop will be run in the opposite direction. Holding time after Phase 3 is 50 minutes.
Phase 5 â 23 km
The 5th loop with take the competitors through a plantation and a small hill. There are 6 water points, 1 crew point and 4 check points. Holding time after Phase 5 is 60 minutes
Phase 6 â 15.1 km
The going is very good in the 6th loop other than one section that can get a little muddy if it rains. There are 4 water points and 4 check points along this loop. Holding time after Phase 6 is 50 minutes.
Phase 7 â 10 km
The last loop is only 10 km. There is a one short asphalt section. 4 water points and 3 check points.
Every rider will carry a GPS unit that will allow the officials to track them. The GPS unit can also be used to call for help if a rider ever needs it. In practices, the maximum response time of the emergency units was 6 minutes from the call to getting emergency personnel, an ambulance or an ambulance horse float to the scene. Every rider will also carry a different coloured light according to the loop he is on.
The WEC Opening Ceremony last night was quite a show. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Nur Zahirah declared the WEC open with three bangs of a traditional Malay drum. Also present at the opening at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin stadium were Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said, Federation Equestrian International director Ian Williams and Championship chief executive officer Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Mohd Nor.
There was a galaxy of Malaysian stars performing at the event, including Saleem, Mila AF5, Ameng Spring, Kelvin Lau, Kogee Haziq, M. Nasir, Ramli Sarip, Jamal Abdillah, Ella and Mawi. After the opening speeches, Kuda Kepang dancers led the teams our in a parade of nations.
As a horseman, I thought Lorenzo’s act the highlight of the evening. I was astounded by his horsemanship and control of his beautiful Andalusians. He controlled eight horses with ease, even though none were harnessed together, while standing on the back of two horses at all times. He could zig-zag them different ways, move them up to four abreast, jumped them over fences while he even faced backwards and even jumped three teams of two horses over different jumps at the same time. Lorenzo’s performance was one of the best equine acts I have ever seen.
The fireworks display went on for a good ten minutes to finish the show, then it was a race back to our bus because we had an early start the next day. The media is really well looked after. They had a media dinner for us on Tuesday night. Last night our bus had a special police escort to get us through the traffic jam around the stadium. Yes, there was actualy a jam in KT last night as 50,000 made their way to the stadium for the opening ceremony.
This morning we had the official Vet check. 133 horses passed the trot-up. Only one horse was eliminated, Italian rider Simona Di Battista’s Lara. Six were not presented. All the Malaysian horses made it through. Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin presented Taljari Moonlight Pharoah but is expected to switch to his second horse Ibrahim Pasha for the big ride tomorrow.
The Chef d’Equipes have to declare their nominated riders for the team this afternoon, so I’ll update this blogwith more news as we get it.
In case you can’t get to Lembah Bidong, Terengganu to watch the biggie this weekend, ESPN will be airing 3 hours of it live on Star Sports. Two hours on Friday evening - the ride flags off at 5:30 pm - and a hour the next morning when we should get part of the 6th and all of the final loop.
It should be great coverage. ESPN has a team of 30 people here, some since last Friday. They have a huge set-up of equipment in their own tent, and an on-site studio where the presenters will be and commentator will be.
The rumours are true. Yes, I will be commentating “live” for ESPN on the World Endurance Championships. It’s a little different to the fast and furious pace of polo that I’m used to as a commentator, but horses nonetheless. Make sure you catch it on Star Sports this Friday and Saturday morning if you can’t make it to Terengganu.
Today I went on another tour the the track, this time with the rest of the foreign media gathered here. Mostly it was to point out where photographers can be stationed along the course. The beach was one of the most popular shots. There were a few Argentinean horses in the sea. Beautiful to see them so relaxed in the water. They were mostly just standing, some with their heads just above the waves.
The horses may be relaxed but the teams are now started to get really excited. There is a tension in the air. Teams have to be decided if countries have more than four horses here. Some teams have had to drop horses because of injury or even dehydration. The Germans have had one horse drop out and they have now just the team of four. Canada has had one horse affected rather severely by the heat. Norlaily’s horse had a little bruising on her near fore frog, but the horse has been reshod with pads and will be presented for the trot-up tomorrow.
I’ve been talking to the teams and everyone is so complimentary about Malaysia. The Dutch were astounded that even the Kampung kids were so friendly, without wanting anything in return. Malaysian hospitality has been a big winner.
So has TIEP. Every visitor is really complimentary about it. The claims that it is one of the three best endurance facilities in the world has been challenged by almost everyone I’ve spoken to. They say it’s not just one of the best three. They say it is THE BEST.
I jumped in a 4WD with the ESPN team and we drove round the 1st loop of 28 km of the WEC course. The start/finish straight of 900 m is pretty impressive but it is the rest of the 160 km that will decide the winners and finishers. The first loop is pretty flat and takes us through about 3 different types of footing. A lot of sand and quarry dust has been laid to make the going firm and with a bit of rain will mix in better. It hasn’t rained for the last two days here, so for once the organisers are actually hoping for a bit of rain!
There are four road crossings in the first loop and a long ride near the beach. It should be spectacular at sunset. We saw only one wild boar, but there have been sightings of monitor lizards, monkeys, cobras and other wild Terengganu life.
TIEP continues to impress me. It is magnificent. No wonder it is rated the best endurance facility in the world. Lots of small, nice touches are still being added, like the horse in the photo. Most every team seems happy with the course, stabling and all the arrangements.
This is 4WD paradise. A car dealer I spoke to supplied 26 SUVs and that was just for pre-bookings. He had to find another 19 to deliver today. All Porsche Cayennes, Cayenne Turbos, BMW X5s, Range Rovers and even Hummers. Nice!
I made the trek to Terengganu, driving an easy five hours from Kuala Lumpur. I made such good time that I had time to check into the Primula Beach Resort where I will be staying at Kuala Terengganu, then drive to the Terengganu International Endurance Park about 40 minutes away at Lembah Bidong.
TIEP looks magnificent. It is all dressed up with lots of tents and all the advretising boards in place. There is a huge Marquee where all the athletes and officials will have their meals. I parked by the media centre and found the ESPN guys I had to meet. I got to see where I will be working for the next few days, another big tent right by the media centre. Lars Wendelken and Daniel Ruppert were outside the media centre, so I went over to say Hi. They took me into the accreditation room and got my media accreditation done in no time at all. Easy-peasy. Great to have friends in high places! The accreditation process, secertariat and all the offices looked very professional.
Then I had a chance to look around and catch up with some friends. Zarina Jan was in the media centre. I said Hi, then left her to the thousands of things she looked about to do. Her brother Abdul Salim was in the Secretariat, as was Wan Alina and a whole bunch of other people we know from running the big shows.
The whole place looks fantastic. It has been raining some afternoons but today the weather seemed hot and fairly dry, at least while I was there.  All the Malaysians I saw at TIEP were all excited, though some were stressed as they get closer to the big day because they all want it to go so well. There is a real buzz about the place.
Tomorrow I get to see more of the teams, track and stables. It’s going to be fun!!
