Dubai: The Musabah Al Muhairi-Silvestre De Sousa pairing turned up the heat in the race for the UAE trainer and jockeys’ championships respectively with another dominant display at Jebel Ali Racecourse on Friday.

Al Muhairi, whose horses appear fitter at the dirt track that is renowned for its testing uphill finish, saddled a smashing three-timer headed by the victory of the stables’ rising star Silver Galaxy in the featured Emirates Airline Handicap over 1,950 metres.

De Sousa, who has said he is in no doubt that the son of leading sire Galileo has the potential to succeed at the highest level, tracked the pace for most of the trip before asking his horse for his effort at the foot of the hill — and the response was immediate.

Silver Galaxy stretched out gamely and pulled away from his five rivals to post another commanding victory that will have earned him a shot at the Dubai World Cup Carnival riches.

“He’s special, we have always known that,” Al Muhairi said. “He loves the track at Jebel Ali, where he has won three times, and I think that we now have to see how he fares at Meydan, in the Carnival.

“I think he has earned his chance to compete for bigger prizes as he continues to progress and become a better racehorse.”

De Sousa added: “He has done nothing but improve from race to race. He has had little racing and still seems to be going the right way.

“This was a great race for him after the Jebel Ali Mile was rearranged and I assume that will now be his next start in two weeks.

“He did very nicely this afternoon and, hopefully, he has a lot more to offer.”

Though the postponed Group 2 Jebel Ali Mile will likely be his next outing, De Sousa said: “I would really like to try him on turf at Meydan during the Dubai World Cup Carnival, but that is obviously up to the trainer.

“He is exciting — a young horse, going the right way, with low mileage.”

Silver Galaxy has had two starts at Meydan this season, both of them maidens, where he finished third to State Law in November before chasing One Man Band home on his reappearance two weeks later.

De Sousa went on to complete a quick double with his boss when riding Absolute Sway to win the Emirates Skywards Maiden over a mile.

The double took the Brazilian rider’s tally for the season to 27 wins, just six behind leader Richard Mullen, while Al Muhairi is within one win of leading trainer Doug Watson (30 wins) after taking the closing Emirates Airline Handicap over 1,200-metres with the Oscar Urbina-ridden Sixty Minutes.

Resident Jebel Ali handler Dhruba Selvaratnam and his promising stable jockey Oisin Murphy went home with smiles on their faces after scoring a double with Canwinn in the Emirates SkyCargo Handicap and Gobool in the Arabian Adventures Handicap.

The only other handler to leave with some silverware was two-time UAE champion trainer Ali Rashid Ali Raihe following the success of Mutual Force in the Emirates Holidays Handicap over 1,800 metres.