Bangalore, Karnataka, India:  Fouaad Mirza, Arjuna Award winner and Asian Games Silver medalist from Embassy International Riding School, secured Gold in the CCI3*S, in Strzegom, Poland yesterday astride his new horse “Dajara”. Procuring this new horse is one of the many efforts by Embassy Group towards developing the Equestrian sport in India and providing the best in class facilities to the EIRS rider Fouaad Mirza, thereby setting him up for success at the Olympics 2020. Fouaad is currently the highest ranked individual in Group G for Asia Pacific Zone with 34 points on one horse Fernhill Facetime, 30 points on the second horse Touchingwood and at present qualifying his third horse, Dajara.  The 8-year-old Dajara is a promising German Holsteiner warm blood has an excellent track record of wins, such as Bundeschampionat, a German National Championship.

Speaking on his Olympic preparation, Fouaad Mirza said, "I am grateful to Mr. Jitu Virwani who has been my sponsor for the last eight years and has consistently supported me in my journey as an International level equestrian rider. His encouragement has always inspired me to put in my best at every stage. I am very excited about our new horse Dajara, which has immense potential for success at the Olympics. Through the event CCI3*S, we were able to level up the horse rider combination to 4* and building up my points to qualify for the Olympics.”

Fouaad started the week with a solid Dressage score of 26.8 which placed him second with a very close score to the talented German rider Antonia Baumgart, who was one penalty better at 25.8. This was followed by the Showjumping event where Fouaad maintained the 2^nd position with a clear round. He finished the deciding Cross-Country round in only 4 seconds over time, leading him to the Gold in the Strezgom CCI3*S in Poland.

Speaking on Fouaad’s recent achievement Mr. Jitu Virwani, Chairman & Managing Director, Embassy Group said, "At Embassy, we are passionate about Equestrian and we are constantly striving to promote this sport in India. We applaud Fouaad’s determination and hard work towards his qualifications for the Olympics 2020. We are very happy to invest in the new warm blood horse Dajara from Germany, which will give Fouaad a competitive edge.  We have ensured that he gets the best in class support and facilities for all his endeavors, even though there are many challenges like expatriating funds from India for this purpose. We hope that things are more streamlined going forward, such that the Indian Equestrian sport gets the necessary impetus to be on the world map.”

Fouaad has completed Renswoulde NED CCI 4*S placed 11, Jardy FRA CCI4*S, Strzegom POL CCI4*S placed 15, Sopot POL CCI4*S placed 7 and Waregam NED CCI4*S placed 7 so far for Olympic Qualifying Events. He is looking forward to the next competitive events in Montelibertti ITY CCI3*S (Italy) and Le Pouget FRA CCI4*S (France).