Dubai: Emirati apprentice Saeed Al Mazroui continued his solid ascent up the ranks when he registered his sixth win of the season at Meydan on Saturday even as Paul Hanagan’s Mundahesh lowered the seven-furlong course race with a blistering performance.
Al Mazroui has made impressive progress in the ultra-competitive UAE racing scene and the hugely committed rider delivered another stellar effort to post a thrilling win aboard Mutual Force in a closely-run race.
Less than a length separated the first three home before the photo-finish judge awarded the race to Al Mazroui’s Mutual Force, who prevailed by a head from Pat Cosgrave’s Crackdown, with Adrie de Vries also a head behind aboard Exploratory.
A thrilled Al Mazroui said: “That was hard work but he stuck his next out gamely and we were in front where it mattered. He is a real favourite horse of mine.
“I’m lucky to get to ride top horses and would like to extend my thanks to all the trainers who have been supporting me and especially Ali Rashid Al Raihe, who always has his horses in top condition when they come to the track.
“It makes my job easier but I admit that you have to be performing at your very best when you ride against top riders like Pat Cosgrave and Adrie de Vries. I’m so happy with this win and will continue to work hard to reduce my claim.”
Meanwhile, Hanagan delivered the star performance when he rode a blinder aboard Mundahesh to obliterate the 1,400m track record that stood in the name of David Marnane-trained Dandy Boy. The winner clipped one-hundredth-of-a-second off Dandy Boy’s mark to post a new time of 1:23.11 seconds.
Hanagan was quick to praise his horse: “We always thought a lot of this horse in England when things rarely went right for him but these Meydan races are run at a good gallop which really suits him. He can hopefully build on this and seems to be improving.”
Hanagan visited the winner’s enclosure for the second time when Almoonqith, trained by Mike de Kock won the 1,800m event on turf. For the second year running, the Satish Seemar-trained Al Razi landed the 1,200m all-weather Swaidan Trading Agriculture and Pest Control Division Trophy Handicap under stable apprentice Marc Monagahn.
The jockey said: “He has a nice turn of foot, as he showed there, but I was conscious that I did not want to hit the front too soon. We won this race last year so we knew these conditions really suit him and, when challenged, he fought well.”
Seemar went on to complete a double with Filfil in the concluding 1,600m all-weather handicap.
