Others taking part were Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain of Jordan, Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa and his brother Shaikh Khalid from Bahrain, Sultan Mizan Zailnal of Malaysia and Shaikh Mohammad Bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani from Qatar. 

Key statistics of the event:
- The original field of entries which stood at 186 wilted down to 175 after the pre-race inspection on Wednesday.
-Ten countries from a total of 41 nations pulled out one horse each. Countries pulling out were Argentina, Belgium, Namibia, Lithuania, Uruguay, South Africa, Russia, Portugal, Norway and hosts UAE.
-This is the second time that the UAE is hosting the World Endurance Championship. The first one, held in 1998, attracted riders and horses from 37 countries.
-There are nearly 800 riders, crew members, team vets, team farriers, team doctors, horse owners and officials present for this ride.
-The late President Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan played a major role in fostering the sport of endurance in the UAE. It was under his directives that the first modern desert ride was organised in the UAE on January 7, 1993. The ride was unique as camels competed against horses in the 40km event the top 15 places were won by the horses.
-The Dubai ride broke all records yesterday. There were 250 television stations around the world showing the event at some point during the day. The Dubai and Abu Dhabi Sports channels were among the eight dedicated channels which beamed the event live.