Dubai: Emirati handler Musabah Al Muhairi maintained his dominance of the feature races at Jebel Ali Racecourse when he saddled the unfancied Interpret to win the Dh500,000 Jebel Ali Stakes — the first of three major highlights staged at the track each season.
The six-year-old son of Distorted Humour, who has never been out of the money in nine UAE starts since November 2012, fought gallantly under an inspired Silvestre de Sousa to hold off front-running Mutajare by a neck, with second-favourite Farrier a length-and-a-half back in third.
“We always felt that he could win a big race but could not find the right race for him,” said Al Muhairi, who was winning the Jebel Ali Stakes for the third successive year following Treble Jig in previous years.
“He’s a very genuine horse who hardly ever runs a bad race. We’ve run him mostly in handicap events, but as he was working well this season we thought about entering him in the Jebel Ali Stakes, now that Trebel Jig is not here anymore.
“He’s been in good form this season, winning a nice race at Meydan and then following up with a good second place effort behind Emrooz at Jebel Ali.
“I’m happy we gave him a chance here and he has not let us down. We’ll see how he comes out of the race before we decide on his subsequent races.
“But I have to say a big thank you to Silvestre for the ride he gave him. It was so close in the end and I think the rider’s tactics and strong finish made all the difference in the end.”
With Trebel Jig now based in Saudi Arabia, this year’s renewal of the 1600m contest appeared to wear an open look, with all eight runners holding hopes of victory.
Haatheq, winner of the Prep race two weeks ago, was sent off as the favourite but could only finish fourth under former British champion jockey Paul Hanagan after a delivering a lukewarm performance on a track at which he has posted five wins.
Al Muhairi’s horses have been in blistering form at Jebel Ali all season and it was not surprising to see him saddle four winners on Friday.
De Sousa was again in the saddle to kick start Al Muhairi’s four-timer when he rode Colmar Kid to victory in the Al Shafar Investment conditions event over 1600m in the colours of Trebel Jig’s former owner Fathi Esaed Mohammad Egziama.
Hanagan was the man doing the honours aboard the gelding Shaishee, who was breaking his maiden at the ninth time of asking, in the Arabian Scandinavian Insurance Co handicap. The four-year-old was having his first start at Jebel Ali having raced three times at Meydan last year.
Al Muhairi’s final victory of the day was Kanaf under Hanagan in the ardmoreequine.com handicap.
Earlier in the afternoon, the HH Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Challenge Purebred Arabian race sponsored by the Emirates Horse Breeders Society was won by Ted Durcan and Bouthayna Al Reef.
It was the former seven-time champion jockey’s first success of the new season.
