The fifteenth edition of the Hassan II Trophy for traditional equestrian arts, counting towards the 2014 Morocco Championship, continues to pit the best national troupes against each other at the Royal Equestrian and Tbourida Sports Complex of Dar Es-Salam in Rabat, until June 8th. Organized by the Royal Moroccan Equestrian Sports Federation (FRMSE), the competition saw its first round contested from Monday to Thursday. A stage that saw the elimination of half of the troupes entered in the senior category, i.e., eight teams out of sixteen. Thus, the troupes from the Oriental regions, led by the mokadem Faraji Laaraj, Fès-Boulemane (mokadem Mohamed Moussaid), Tadla-Azilal (mokadem Abderahim Hanini), Guelmim-Smara (mokadem Hassan Mardi), the Oriental (mokadem Mohamed Rharsalla), Taza-El Hoceima-Taounate (mokadem Fouad Laamarti), Meknès-Tafilalet (mokadem Anouar Baouchi), and Gharb (Abdellah Benbih) were ejected from the race towards the semi-finals. Among the Juniors, the number of eliminated was more limited, since only one troupe had to leave the competition, that of Tanger-Tétouan (mokadem Younes Zriouel), leaving the way clear for the other six sorbas representing Meknès-Tafilalet (Hassan Soulaimani), Fès-Bouleman (Khair Dine Chakroune), Tanger-Tétouan (Abdelhay Rouifi), Marrakech-Tensift (Abdelhaid Bouhali), and Grand Casablanca (Taibi Haddioui). Last bastion before Sunday's final. The competitions will therefore resume on Saturday for the seniors and will designate the six troupes selected to compete in the final (scheduled for Sunday), while on the junior side, four troupes out of the six entered at the start will compete for the title of this edition. The riders will attempt to succeed the Grand Casablanca troupe led by the mokadem Abdellah Harit (crowned at the end of the last edition of the Hassan II Trophy for seniors), and that representing Meknès-Tafilalet and led by the mokadem Hassan Slimani, crowned last year for the Juniors. Let us note, moreover, that the performance of the participating teams is evaluated on the basis of the "Hadda", which takes into consideration several criteria which are: the riders' attire, the harmonious harnessing of the horses, the skillful handling of the rifles, and the "Talqa", scored according to the alignment of the riders and the synchronization of the rifle shots.