Championship race blown wide open as upsets rule

Dubai: The race for the UAE trainers’ championship was thrown wide open as upsets ruled on the season’s concluding night’s racing at Meydan Racecourse, sponsored by Gulf News.

With only three domestic race meetings remaining prior to the Dubai World Cup on March 30, four trainers were locked in a fierce battle for the prestigious honour, among them Al Asayl Stables’ Ernst Oertel and Oasis 1’s Musabah Al Muhairi, who are bidding to win the title for the first time.

Both handlers were tied on 31 winners each, with former champion Satish Seemar joining three-time winner Ali Rashid Al Raihe on 30 wins each, demonstrating that the championship is very much up for grabs.

However, it was the Al Asifa Stables-based Mubarak Bin Shafya who made a serious dent in Al Raihe’s aspirations when he saddled a hat-trick of winners, including Petty Office in the Hayat FM handicap and Busker, an exciting winner of the gulfnews.com handicap. In both races, Al Raihe’s fancied runners, Watheeq and Need To Know, were narrowly beaten.

Adrie de Vries recorded back-to-back wins aboard Busker, who came with a late run to post a three-quarter-length victory over the Wayne Smith-piloted Colour Guard.

De Vries, who is often referred to as the Flying Dutchman, said: “He likes coming between horses, he has a big heart. The gap was there on the rails, but you also need a little luck.”

Tadhg O’Shea strengthened his claims to win a second jockeys’ championship when he took his tally for the season to 28 wins after riding bottom-weight Midnight Moon to victory in the feature race of the night, the 2200m Gulf News handicap.

“When I saw he had a low weight, I was keen to get on top of him, I know he stays well,” he said. “He’s a strong galloper and is all for a big finish.”

Earlier in the evening, Al Muhairi saddled Ramonti Flash to a surprise victory in the Wheels Maiden over 1600m on the All Weather. This was the first UAE success for super sire Ramonti, who famously won three of Britain’s most important mile races in 2007 — the Queen Anne Stakes, Sussex Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes — when trained by Godolphin.

Ramonti, who stood for one season as a stallion at Darley’s Kildangan Stud in County Kildare, Ireland, currently stands at the Allevamento di Besnate near Mornago in Italy. His first foals made their debut in 2012.