H. H. Sheikh Ras Al Maktoum of United Arab Emirates holds the national flag after the men's Equestrian Endurance individual ride at Doha Asiad, Qatar, Dec. 14, 2006. H. H. Sheikh Ras Al Maktoum won the gold by a time of 5:45:49.(Xinhua Photo/Li Yue) Photo Gallery >>>

    DOHA, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum of the United Arab Emigrates (UAE) won the equestrian endurance individual title at the 15th Asian Games here on Thursday.

    Riding his father's favorite horse Nashmi, the 25-year-old son of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president of the UAE and governor of Dubai, won his first Asian Games gold medal in a time of five hours and 45.49 minutes.

    "Wow! I'm just on the moon," said the gold medalist. "The horse is very good. It was fresh till the end."

    Sheikh Nasser Bin Al Khalifa of Bahrain clocked five hours and 48.53 minutes to take a individual silver with his horse Shar Rushkin.

    The bronze medal went to Sultan Bin Sulayem of the UAE, who finished in 5:51.39.

    "I am most happy with our achievement, especially under these circumstances. I mean the ground after the rain," said Al Maktoum.

    The UAE team, which includes four sons of the Dubai ruler, won the team gold as they turned out to be the only team having three riders to finish the gruelling 120km race through the Qatari desert.

    "We are a real team no doubt. The Sheikh (the Dubai governor) trains us, I feel equal to his sons, " said Sulayem.

    "You might even see him following and advising riders from other countries, because he wants everybody to improve, " he added.

    Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan were the three teams with two riders to finish the race. Bahrain collected 12 hours and 11.53 minutes to win a silver medal, beating the hosts which timed 12:49.26.