Al Ain: Salem Al Katbi — the new resident trainer at Al Asayl Stables — enjoyed his first winner this season when Burj Khalifa won a 2,000-metre conditions race at Al Ain’s final meeting of 2014 on Saturday.
Only six went to post and Royston Ffrench settled his mount in third, quite wide, before giving chase to leader Haajeb 600 metres from home. Burj Khalifa gained the initiative, but had to dig deep to hold off a renewed challenge from Haajeb.
“It was the horse’s first run on dirt,” said Ffrench. “His pedigree suggested it would suit and it has. The runner-up came back at us strongly but my horse has really dug deep and showed a great attitude.
“There should be more to come.”
Ffrench has been booting home plenty of winners in recent weeks and he was completing a double, having also been in the saddle on Murooj, sporting the colours of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance.
Riding for his main employer, trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe, Ffrench was never far off the pace before committing for home at the top of the straight. It was a race-winning move, with the pair clear entering the final 300 metres.
Murooj lost his maiden tag at the seventh attempt in the process.
“He has been running well,” said Ffrench. “That was only his seventh start and hopefully he can build on this.”
Trainer Al Katbi later completed a double of his own when TM Junior Johnson won for the first time locally, scoring convincingly in a 1,000-metre handicap.
Prolific on dirt when trained in his native America, he was making only his second UAE start on the surface and always looked likely to win under champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea.
“He arrived with a very high rating,” said O’Shea. “He is a real dirt horse, as he has shown today. Now he has put his head back in front, hopefully he can win again.”
The meeting opened with an 1,800-metre handicap and Silvestre de Sousa, fresh from four winners at Jebel Ali on Friday, made it five wins in seven races on board Nichem Al Mels.
It had appeared Maghazi was going to supply trainer Beverley Deutrom and apprentice Ali Al Showaikh their first UAE winner, but De Sousa had other ideas.
Trained by Ahmad Al Muhairbi, it was a second consecutive course victory for Nichem Al Mels, who had landed a 2000-metre handicap four weeks ago.
“I was a bit short of room turning for home,” said De Sousa. “I decided then to head for the rail and, luckily, the gaps appeared when I needed them and I was confident my horse was in front when it mattered.”
De Sousa was to complete a double in the only Thoroughbred race on the card, the concluding 1,000-metre maiden, in which he steered Conform With Fact to an easy victory for his main employer, Musabah Al Muhairi.
David Smith made his first ride at Al Ain a winning one, leading the Yousuf Al Beloushi-trained Reeh in a 2000-metre maiden.
