Dubai: Former champion trainer Doug Watson continued his relentless run of form by raking up a brace of winners at Jebel Ali Racecourse on Friday, including the featured Shadwell Handicap with the heroic Shamaal Nibras.
Watson saddled three winners at this track two weeks ago and followed up with another three-timer at Meydan last week.
Shamaal Nibras, in only his third start for Watson having previously raced out of Esmail Mohammad’s stables, drove home the fact that the American handler’s horses are in rousing form when delivering a gutsy effort in the hands of Pat Dobbs to beat a high-class field in the 1,400-metre contest.
Pick Six favourite Encipher, looking for back-to-back wins at Jebel Ali this season, set the pace for most of the trip under Royston Ffrench, but visibly tired in the closing stages.
Watson was delighted with the character his trainee displayed, saying: “He’s a really nice horse, he never runs a bad race and we thought that this was his right trip.
“It took us forever but we got there in the end. He stuck his neck out and was trying hard. I’m very pleased with him.”
Watson, who also won the 1,600-metre British University of Dubai Handicap with Hacienda, following a thrilling three-horse finish involving Bismark and Ormindo, attributed his run of success to a combination of factors.
“We’re feeling comfortable about the way we’re training,” he said. “With the Tapeta our schedules were different. We used to work eight to 10 horses here every Sunday and were just wearing them out.
“We were not running well here and still couldn’t win on the Tapeta. It was kind of frustrating. Now we do all our work at home and the results are showing. Keeping them fresh is the key and we’ve built a really nice team. I’ve got some great staff and it’s going well and, hopefully, it will continue.”
While Watson was swelling his tally of winners for the season, Emirati handler Ahmad Bin Harmash was notching up his first success of the season as the ex-Godolphin-trained Idler won the 1,200-metre Zayed University Handicap under Jebel Ali specialist Wayne Smith.
The Darley-bred son of Exceed And Excel, who missed two full seasons between 2012 and 2014, showed his well-being with a resolute performance to score by a length-and-a-quarter from Ajraam and Al Razi.
“We had to wait a long time for this, but in the end it is worth it,” said Bin Harmash, who was saddling his 28th runner of the season. “The change from Tapeta to dirt at Meydan upset our training schedules a bit and as a result some of our horses are backward. But we liked this horse and gave him a run at Meydan last month, which really brought him on for this.
“We hope he can continue to improve and leave behind all the problems that he’s had. He’s fit and regaining his confidence again,” he said of the former Mark Johnston trainee.
Resident Jebel Ali handler Dhruba Selvaratnam notched up his fourth win of the season and third at his home track when Momaris ran out a compelling winner of the 1,400-metre Abu Dhabi University Handicap under stable jockey Oisin Murphy.
The pair comfortably beat Special Boy by a length-and-a-half and Murphy said: “He’s improved from run to run, hopefully, the handicapper won’t be too hard on him.
“He’s a horse that has to be ridden confidently. He did it nicely and we believe he can improve further.”
