Abu Dhabi: Champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea and renowned trainer Ernst Oertel registered back-to-back winners in the feature race and main supporting contest at the Abu Dhabi race course on Sunday.
In Round 2 of the Arabian Triple Crown, O’Shea rode Nymphea Du Paon to victory after taking Molahen El Alhan to glory in the Emirates Colts Classic.
Nymphea Du Paon was the firm favourite going into the race and lived up to her reputation by winning the race by one and a half lengths after stable companion Burj Khalifa under Daniel Muscat had set the early pace. Swwing ridden by Ted Durcan finished second while Andrew Nienaber on Haanoof came in third.
Royston Ffrench on Af Al Hazer took second place in the Emirates Colts Classic and 16 lengths behind in third place was Maftoon Al Reef.
“She is a really lovely filly and was impressive again over the longer trip. We will obviously see how she has come out from this race and see if she can be back for the Round 3 prize over the 2,400m distance next week,” Oertel said.
Nymphea Du Paon had won both her local starts over 1,600m but was stripped off her second win, the Arabian Triple Crown round after testing positive for prohibited substance Furosemide in her post-race urine sample.
Earlier, after playing second fiddle twice before to Af Al Hazer, Molahen El Alhan finally beat the former. It was a change in riding tactics that saw the turnaround, O’Shea revealed after the win. “He is a horse with a lot of ability. We adopted a different riding plan and it worked perfectly well. He really enjoyed himself out in front and responded when I needed to make sure Af Al Hazer could not get to us,” O’Shea said.
The day also ended on a bright note for trainer Eric Lemartinel as he too managed a double when Noel Garbutt led Simbar Du Loup to a comprehensive win in the penultimate race, the Purebred Arabians Wathba Stud Farm Cup for Private Owners.
Earlier, Gerald Avranche had led Ain Jaloot to victory in the opener for Lemartinel after a late challenge to lead 100m out.
“He has finished very well and is learning all the time. That was only his second start and he learned a lot from the first. He should improve again,” Avranche said.
The Abu Dhabi Championship prep race for thoroughbreds was won by Inthar, trained by Satish Seemar and ridden by Richard Mullen. Inthar thus completed a hat-trick of titles in Abu Dhabi in as many appearances this season.
Two lengths behind was Sefri, ridden by Dane O’Neill and another three lengths behind was Ukrainian saddled by Royston Ffrench.
“He just loves it around here and has done that very nicely. Abu Dhabi really suits him and hopefully, he can win here again,” Mullen said.
