Further endurance horse switch allegations [VIP]
Marmoog, the alleged “ringer” ridden by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, at the 2012 Euston World Championships, is not the only horse switch allegation.
The FEI has previously tried to follow up rumours about Siloah Hamza, winner of the National Day ride at Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi, on 26 November 2011.
Pictures allegedly show winner Fatma Al Marri at various stages on two different chestnuts numbered 144 — one with white stockings on its hindlegs and one without.
But a FEI spokesman told H&H: “We are aware that photos were circulated on social media after the event, but at no time did the FEI receive any photographs or official reports of this alleged incident. We were therefore not in a position to take any action.”
It is a month since the FEI asked its integrity unit, Quest, to reinvestigate the subsequent case of Marmoog.
The Euston horse was dissimilar to the Marmoog at Numana in June 2012 and Abu Dhabi in February 2014.
The FEI revealed Marmoog was also investigated after Euston, but Quest reported there was “insufficient” evidence. It was reopened last month after pictures surfaced in the media.
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The FEI does not know when Quest will complete. The scope of its earlier investigation is confidential.
Since then, the UAE federation has altered Marmoog’s microchip number and changed his name to JSAS on the FEI database. Ingmar de Vos, FEI secretary general, said there was no reason to suspend Marmoog’s database activity.
Curiously, Siloah Hamza also later had his name changed — to Trouble Maker.
He was owned by Seeh Al Salaam (SAS) stables and had been mostly competed by SAS’s principal trainer Ali Mohammed Al Muhairi. By the National Day ride, Al Muhairi was suspended for doping, but entered the field of play. The FEI took that further offence into account when handing down his record four-year ban. Al Muhairi is understood to have left SAS.
