Dubai World Cup Carnival hopefuls to the fore at Meydan

Dubai: Meydan’s final race meeting of the year looked a high-class card on paper and it did not disappoint racing fans when unearthing some exciting prospects for the fast approaching Dubai World Cup Carnival.

After the Erwan Charpy-trained Manark, a classy Purebred Arabian who is starting to fill his frame and mature mentally too, delivered a big run to win the night’s feature race, the Group 2 Mazrat Al Ruwaya, thoroughbreds Le Bernadini, Special Fighter and Muarrab announced themselves as worthy contenders for the rich purses on offer during the racing extravaganza which kicks-off at Meydan on January 7.

Conceivably, the stellar performance of the night came from reigning champion trainer Musabah Al Muhairi’s Oasis 1 stables’ Muarrab who hammered his rivals in the Listed Garhoud Sprint to lay down a marker for the Carnival’s top sprints.

Ridden confidently by former two-time British champion jockey Paul Hanagan, Muarrab, who was making his Meydan debut following a string of eight wins at Jebel Ali, led home a matchless 1-2-3 finish for Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance.

He was chased home by Rafeej, a winner of the race in 2013-2014, who in turn was followed by Kifaah.

“We have always believed in his ability and I think his performance on the dirt at Meydan will be reassessed in light of how well he won and we will obviously be looking at some of the big sprint races during the Carnival,” Al Muhairi said.

“He showed he can handle the surface and that is very encouraging as he is still an improving horse.”

Paul Hanagan, who was notching his second success of the night having partnered Manark to victory in the opener, said: “He is a horse we have always had massive hopes for and I have won plenty of races on him,” said Hanagan. “Most horses take a while to acclimatise from England but he seemed to settle straight in.

“Basically he has such a great temperament he takes everything in his stride and is, seemingly, just ‘on the up’.

“Hopefully he is a Dubai Golden Shaheen horse at the end of the season, at least that is where we would like to be aiming.”

Al Muhairi also found himself another potential Carnival candidate in the form of Special Fighter, an emphatic winner of the The Entisar Sponsored By Al Tayer Motors.

“He had been working very well and we were certainly hopeful,” said Al Muhairi’s stable jockey Fernando Jara. “He relaxed nicely in the race and then responded when I asked. Hopefully he is a genuine Dubai World Cup Carnival horse.”

Al Muhairi concurred with his jockey and said: “He’s a serious horse who we would like to aim at the Carnival. The mile is essentially his best distance, but I think he will also get further, so well have to see how he performs there before taking the next step.

“But, yes, he’s a nice horse for the Carnival and we are really looking forward to running him and Muharrab in the big races. Obviously the competition will be much higher, but these horses are still improving and we hope that they can compete with the best international horses who turn up at the event.”

La Bernandin caught the eye in the parade ring and followed that up when delivering a powerful performance to win the Dubai Creek Mile and will next take his chances in the Al Kamtoum Challenge, the opening day’s showpiece race at the Carnival on January 7.

Trained by Ali Rashid Al Raihe Le Bernardin was partnered by stable jockey Tadhg O’Shea who commented: “We all know he stays further so I was happy to be positive.

“It is the first time I have ridden him in a race and I was always happy out in front.

“He has been pretty fresh at home so this 1600m proved the ideal return for him. It opens up more options now and I think we will be looking at the Al Maktoum Challenge races at the Carnival.”

Satish Seemar ‘s Piepowder Court made an impressive UAE debut when landing the The Lincoln MKT Trophy for maidens.