18 year-old Hamad Al Attiyah to ride Bella Donna for Qatar…

Turning 19 years old this year, the young talent Hamad Al Attiyah of Qatar has been confirmed to be the new rider for the big-bodied bay mare Bella Donna. This past week, it was announced that Bella Donna had been sold to Team Qatar but the rider was not yet confirmed.

With Meredith, Bella Donna earned enormous success and high regard; she is now considered to be one of the world’s best horses. Having earned the most prize money of any German horse in 2013, Bella Donna out-did Christian Ahlmann’s Taloubet Z and Daniel Deusser’s Cornet d’Amour this past season, winning a total of €411,414 in prize money.

Meredith and Bella Donna were vital members of the German team at the London Olympic Games in 2012, and jumped at the World Cup Finals in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2013. The pair jumped to victory on numerous German Nations Cup teams including Hickstead Nations Cup this last summer. The pair were ranked 69th on the WBFSH Rankings.

Hamad Al Attiyah is a young rider for Team Qatar. Having recently won at CSI4*-W Doha, CSI3*-W Riyadh and CSI2* with his top mounts Levicci and Silnce G. Winning the CSI1* World Cup Grand Prix in Amman, it seems that this 18 year old jockey is an exciting up-and-comer for Qatar. The addition of a mare such as Bella Donna to his string of horses will certainly be an exciting development for the young Qatari rider.

Recently, Qatar has been experiencing a whole host of exciting developments. With the acquisition of Paloubet d’Halong for Qatar’s Ali Yousef Al Rumaihi, Team Qatar is certainly looking to make 2014 their best yet. In addition, both Bassem Hassam Mohammed and Khaled Mohammed Al Emadi of Qatar made some of the biggest leaps forward on the Longines World Rankings this month.

Source: QEF