Photos by Sue Crockett

SYDNEY, Jan 19 AAP - He's a bit of a bruiser, difficult to handle, and never backs off from a fight.
Murdoch, nine-years-old and standing just over 15.1 hands, also looks set to become one of the world's greatest long-distance endurance horses.

The spotted horse from Queensland is training in the Arabian desert near Dubai ahead of next week's gruelling 160-kilometre World Endurance Racing Championships, the premier event in the world's toughest equine sport.
Murdoch was shipped to Dubai last week with the six other mounts of the seven-member Australian National Endurance Squad.

He'll take on the cream of the world's purebred Arabian horses, owned by some of the world's wealthiest men, including race host and Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum. But Murdoch has a good chance of winning. ``In any other sport they probably would have dogged him by now (sent him for pet food),'' said Australian Endurance Squad (AES) manager Barb Timms.

``He is cantankerous, knows what he wants and fights all the way. It takes a rider like Peter Toft (Murdoch's owner and AES member) to bring out the best in him, but Murdoch is looking like a winner.
``He's yet to hit his peak. Top endurance horses are usually about 12-years-old, but he has won just about everything he has entered, including first heavyweight in this year's Australian national championships, the Tom Quilty Gold Cup.''

Murdoch is making a name for himself around Endurance City, the purpose-built facility created specially for the World Championships by Sheikh Mohammed. But it's less to do with athletics than aesthetics. He is scaring camels on his regular training runs.
``Usually, it's the other way around,'' said Toft.
``Horses run a mile from camels. It must be his spots, but we frightened a herd of about 60 camels today. They were terrified of him.''

As the world's equal-top ranked team, Australia is expecting to bring home a medal from Dubai.
The Australian team comprises Peter and Penny Toft from Marburg, near Brisbane, Anne Jones of Cooroy on the Sunshine Coast, Jennifer Gilbertson from Wiseman's Ferry, in NSW, and Meg Wade and Kristie McGaffin from Walwa, on the Victorian/NSW border. Reserve rider is Terry Wood from the NSW Southern Highlands.

The World Endurance Championships will be held on January 27.
AAP str/sp/evt/jlw