Abu Dhabi: Sha’Red ridden by Richard Mullen retained the Al Ruwais Group 3 feature event of the evening at the Abu Dhabi Race Course on Sunday.
Sha’Red, owner by Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Presidential Affairs and trained by Yousuf Al Baloushi, was the joint winner of this title last year with Rakha after that contest had ended in a dead-heat. This time round, Sha’Red got the better of Areem ridden by Silvestre de Souza by one length. Finishing another half a length behind on third was Bigg N Rich.
This was Mullen’s 30th winner and he revealed that trainer Al Baloushi was very confident about Sha’Red’s abilities. “To get past a class horse like Areem means he must be a good horse,” said Mullen, adding, “His form was there for everyone to see and the trainer was very bullish before the race. They went very quick, as you would expect and we were out of our ground early on but, once we hit the straight, he picked up very well.”
In the President’s Cup prep race for the thoroughbred, Oisin Murphy rode Forjatt to victory by half-a-length with a perfectly timed run ahead of More Aspen and Rostum ridden by Mullen and Wayne Smith, respectively.
Despite the win, Forjatt will not take part in the President’s Cup and Yaa Wayl, who came fourth, will take part instead. According to trainer Dhruba Selvaratnam, the Jebel Ali Mile, which was postponed due to the death of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, will still be Forjatt’s target.
“He ran really well over six furlongs last time at Jebel Ali. The plan was the Jebel Ali Mile. Unfortunately that was postponed. This was an obvious choice and he won easily at the end,” said an elated Murphy. The President’s Cup prep race for purebred Arabians over 2,200m, Adrie De Vries on Abu Alabyad, trained by Salem Al Ketbi led from start to finish. Tadhg O’Shea on Skoop finished 3.5 lengths behind while Paul Hanagan crossed the line on Versac PY on third.
“He is a nice horse. He has a nice lovely stride on him. I liked him a lot when I worked him last week. He needed a little time to adapt to this climate. Now we can expect a little bit more from him,” said De Vries.
Jockey O’Shea rode Abhaar to a comprehensive victory by 7.5 lengths in the main support race the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club Gold Cup for trainer Al Ketbi’s treble. Finishing second was AF Lafeh ridden by Royston Ffrench, while Jesus Rosales on Ameer Al Reef came third another length behind. This was the third win in a row for the four-year-old and speaks volumes of his potential.
“He just doesn’t seem to have any chinks in his armoury. I was in stall 13 and he got such a good break and he got such big action and you don’t need to break him going forward. He can go further than a mile and he’s got a good turn off foot,” revealed O’Shea.
