Dubai: Dane O’Neil started the new UAE racing season with a bang, thanks to a double at Jebel Ali Racecourse on Friday which included a victory aboard Fityaan in the featured Shadwell handicap.

Retained rider to Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, O’Neil also won the concluding Al Tal Engineering Handicap aboard the Erwan Charpy-trained Kahruman.

Both winners raced in the colours of Shaikh Hamdan who was the champion owner at the track last season with 15 winners.

Fityaan, who was narrowly denied victory in the Listed Jebel Ali Sprint in March this year, was notching his first win at the hilly course in nine starts.

“He’s a very nice horse to have in the stables,” said winning trainer and Jebel Ali specialist Musabah Al Muhairi. “He’s had his share of injury problems in the past which have affected his training and performances.

“But he’s free from all that now and is at his best fitness. We were quite confident coming here today and we liked the way he changed his gears.

“Five furlongs is his best distance and perhaps we will try him on the new dirt track at Meydan as well.

“We’ll see how it goes from there as Dane says he’s improved a lot from last year, so we have got to be optimistic with him.”

Fityaan scored by two and a quarter lengths from the Ali Rashid Al Raihe-trained Ribaat with Zilzilah a further length and a quarter back for long-serving UAE handler Satish Seemar.

Kahruman was opening his UAE account after two unsuccessful seasons, but did it in style under a fit O’Neill who was at his bustling best.

A son of Kentucky-based stallion Mr. Greeley, Kahruman crossed the line two and a quarter lengths clear of the Ahmad Bin Harmash-trained Grilletto, with Al Muhairi’s Sixty Minutes two lengths further back in third.

Abu Dhabi-based Egyptian handler Ahmad Ramdan expressed in no uncertain terms his delight in pulling a win out of the fire when Marhi made all under Argentinian jockey Carlos Sanchez to win the Arabian Scandinavian Insurance Co, Handicap over 1000m.

Ramdan screamed his heart out as Marhi turned his past form around to post a decisive length and a quarter victory over the Al Raihe-trained Mutahaddith.

The five-year-old son of Rahy has only once show some sort of ability in nine UAE starts when runner-up in a handicap at the course in March 2013.

But Ramdan said he always believed in the horse.

“I never doubted that he could win, and win like he did today,” he said. “He shows us he has a lot of heart at home but he’s never managed to reproduced that form on the track in the past. But I always knew that he had the ability and kept training him for this day. I waited two years for this but it was worth it.

“Hopefully he can improve further and we’ll bring him back here for a similar race in the future.

“For the moment, this is one of the happiest days of my life, because he really is a nice horse and he did not let me down.”

Earlier Doug Watson and champion jockey O’Shea teamed up with Mizbah to win the first race of the season, the Al Redha Insurance Brokers Handicap 1950m.

“It’s fantastic to start the season this way, hopefully there’s more to come,” said Watson.