Horses in Pyramids endurance race

Some of the Arab world's leading jockeys and trainers have been testing their horses in a one hundred-kilometre endurance race in Egypt.

Seventy-five horses began the race over a hilly, desert course around the pyramids outside Cairo.

But reports say thirty were forced to withdraw in the first six hours.

One competitor said the heat - around thirty-four degrees celsius - made it very difficult for the horses and the riders.

The BBC correspondent in Cairo says that despite careful preparations, there is concern about whether it's humane for horses to be made to endure such an arduous race.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service