Dubai: Emirati handler Salem bin Ghadayer and rider Mickael Barzalona forged a winning partnership that yielded a fine double for His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, the Dubai Crown Prince, on Saturday evening’s Gulf News-sponsored six-race Meydan card.
Horses in the sky blue colours of the Dubai Crown Prince flourished for a thriving yard which had struck 21 times heading into Meydan Saturday and there was more joy as Jumeirah Beach made it a winning start when picking up a first career success on her fifth start in the Tabloid. A 1,600m maiden on dirt, the race saw the 3yo Exceed And Excel filly win by a length and quarter under Barzalona after virtually making all. Second in was Al Maroom for Satish Seemar with Tadhg O’Shea up, while Ismail Mohammed’s Tiger Queen took third a further five and a quarter back in the hands of Maxime Guyon.
Bin Ghadayer and Barzalona scored again in the Reach by Gulf News, the first of four handicaps on the card. Contested over 2,200m of dirt, it saw Book Review turn up the best-seller with a new record time of 2:17.25. The race was won in much the same manner with the 4yo gelded son of Dubawi dictating the pace and pulling clear just before turning for home to win by a commanding seven lengths from Ali Rashid Al Rayhi’s One Vision, the ride of Connor Beasley. Third in, a further length behind, was Doug Watson’s race favourite Meqdam, who carried Pat Dobbs in the saddle.
A thrilled Bin Ghadayer said: “We are not surprised by her (Jumeirah Beach). She has the class and since we’ve had her we’ve believed in her ability and today she has shown that she can win very well. We weren’t surprised with what Book Review did either, he performs well in training and he’s run a very confident and big race.”
Al Rayhi and Beasley were on target earlier in the Friday, a 1800m maiden on turf, with Emirates Currency, who swooped in late to deny stablemate Welcome Surprise, the ride of Sandro Paiva, by a half length. A further four and three fourths in arrears was Seemar’s Zero To A Hundred with Richard Mullen in the saddle.
The second half of the card carried the higher purses and perhaps the most exciting of them was the Gulf News 1600m turf handicap in which Helal Alalawi’s Mystery Land showed his versatility when winning his first turf start with a near last to first dash in the final 400m. The 5yo Sea The Stars gelding was ridden by Pat Cosgrave, who pushed hard and admitted he knew 200m out he would win although the margin was a mere three fourths of a length from Erwan Charpy’s Al Salt, who performed admirably on his UAE debut under Clement Lecoeuvre. A neck back in third was Trolius ridden by Harry Bentley for Simon Crisford.
It was a third success for Mystery Land in five starts and Cosgrave said: “He’s a young horse and is still learning, but he’s got solid turf pedigree and we’ll see what happens next.”
Seemar was denied earlier, but cashed in with a late double, winning the penultimate race of the night the gulfnews.com, a 1600m handicap on dirt, with Twelfthofneverland, who made it two in two under apprentice Nathan Crosse. A winner over 2000m here a fortnight ago, the 5yo son of Istan doubled up with three fourths to spare from Watson’s Double Orb the ride of Dobbs. A further length and a quarter adrift was Rashed Bouresly’s Celtic Price with Fabrice Veron up.
Emirati handler Salem Bin Ghadayer and rider Mickael Barzalona forged a winning partnership that yielded a fine double for Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, yesterday evening’s Gulf News-sponsored six-race Meydan card.
Horses in the sky blue colours of the Dubai Crown Prince flourished for a thriving yard which had struck 21 times heading into Meydan Saturday and there was more joy as Jumeirah Beach made it a winning start when picking up a first career success on her fifth start in the tabloid. A 1,600m maiden on dirt, the race saw the 3-year-old Exceed And Excel filly win by a length and quarter under Barzalona. Second in was Al Maroom for Satish Seemar with Tadhg O’Shea up, while Esmail Mohammad’s Tiger Queen took third a further five and a quarter back in the hands of Maxime Guyon.
New record
Bin Ghadayer and Barzalona scored again in the Reach by Gulf News, the first of four handicaps on the card. Contested over 2,200m of dirt, it saw Book Review turn up the best-seller with a new record time of 2:17.25. The race was won in much the same manner with the 4-year-old gelded son of Dubawi dictating the pace and pulling clear just before turning for home to win by a commanding seven lengths from Ali Rashid Al Rayhi’s One Vision, the ride of Connor Beasley.
A thrilled Bin Ghadayer said: “We are not surprised by her (Jumeirah Beach). She has the class and since we’ve had her we’ve believed in her ability and today she has shown that she can win very well. We weren’t surprised with what Book Review did either, he performs well in training and he’s run a very confident and big race.”
Welcome Surprise wins
Al Rayhi and Beasley were on target earlier in the Friday, a 1,800m maiden on turf, with Emirates Currency, who swooped in late to deny stablemate Welcome Surprise, the ride of Sandro Paiva, by a half length.
The second half of the card carried the higher purses and perhaps the most exciting of them was the Gulf News 1,600m turf handicap in which Helal Alalawi’s Mystery Land showed his versatility when winning his first turf start with a near last to first dash in the final 400m.
It was a third success for Mystery Land in five starts and Cosgrave said: “He’s a young horse and is still learning, but he’s got solid turf pedigree and we’ll see what happens next.”
Seemar was denied earlier, but cashed in with a late double, winning the penultimate race of the night the gulfnews.com, a 1,600m handicap on dirt, with Twelfthofneverland, who made it two in two under apprentice Nathan Crosse.
Seemar then claimed a 1-3 in the card closing agnc3, a 1,000m sprint down the Meydan turf chute, with Moshaher, who swept clear down the centre under Bentley to win.
