Abu Dhabi: Trainer Gillian Duffield saddled her second Group 1 winner in four days while jockey Tadhg O'Shea completed a double which included a superb win in the feature race of the night on El Rigoletto.
Duffield, who scored with No Risk Al Maury in the Al Maktoum Challenge (Round 3) Group 1 on Thursday at Meydan, added another Group 1 win and this time O'Shea riding El Rigoletto to win the Liwa Oasis (Group 1) over seven furlongs.
While the win completed a double for O'Shea for the night it also was a 1-2 in the feature race for Duffield.
Duffield's Quaolina was the Pick Six favourite in the 12-horse field for the Dh250,000 Liwa Oasis with President's Cup (Group 1) winner Jarnin and Al Ruwais Group 3 winner Mutafani also in the fray.
However, after Kaich did the early running, El Rigoletto hit the front with about 300 metres to go. With Jarnin out of the reckoning, it turned out to be a battle between the stablemates El Rigoletto and Quaolina.
Quaolina, ridden by Richard Hills, got the defending champion to make one final attempt, but O'Shea on El Rigoletto managed to just stave off the challenge with a driving finish.
UAE Non Stop ran into third place.
Lovely split
O'Shea, who had earlier won on Waneesah W'rsan, said El Rigoletto deserved the win. "He is a nice horse and ran well tonight. It was a lovely split that he seized and stuck it out well.
"Though Richard (on Quaolina) came on strongly, he stuck it out and I was glad the line came soon," said O'Shea after registering his 22nd win of the season.
Earlier in the Emirates Colts Classic, a Prestige race for UAE-bred Arabians, the Eric Lemartinel-trained Naseem Al Reef, under Ted Durcan, scored his first career win in four starts and denied favourite Najem Al Khalij's hat-trick effort.
The four-year-old Nez D'Or son unleashed a fine burst of speed to score over Najem Al Khalij, a winner in his previous two starts.
In the only race for thoroughbreds, emirate trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe had the distinction of saddling a 1-2-3 with Five Cents under Royston Ffrench getting the better of Dahes (Tadhg O'Shea astride) and Ramadi (Ted Durcan up).
RESULTS
Race 1. Al Mina Handicap, 00-45, Dh 45,000, 11F:
1. RS Sanjar (Samir Hawaa) Safwan Al Reffai; 2. MH Wafi (Anthony Manuel) Patrick Dobbs; 3. Al Abjar W'rsan (Jaci Wickham) Richard Mullen.
Time:2:33.53; Distances: 1L, Shd
Race 2. Al Khazna Conditions (Fillies & Mares), Dh 40,000, 8F:
1. Waneessah W'rsan (Jaci Wickham) Tadhg O'Shea; 2. Jawhara Al Reef (Gillian Duffield) Ted Durcan; 3. RS Tasnim (Jaber Bittar) Jesus Rosales.
Time: 1:46.27; Distances: 2.25L, 1.25L
Race 3. Al Wathba Stud Farm race for Private Owners, UAE-bred unrated Maidens, Dh 35,000, 8F:
1. Taj Al Reef (Bakhit Al Ketbi) Wayne Smith; 2. RS Zerrah (Gillian Duffield) Alan Munro; 3. AF Azmaah (Mahmood Hussain) Tadhg O'Shea.
Time: 1:49.26; Distances: 0.50L, 0.75L
Race 4. Emirates Colts Classic (Prestige) UAE-bred, Dh 100,000, 8F:
1. Naseem Al Reef (Eric Lemartinel) Ted Durcan; 2. Najem Al Khalij (Saifaldin Deeb) Royston Ffrench; 3.Rahawan Al Reef (Saifaldin Deeb) David Badel.
Time: 1:46.70; Distances: 0.50L, 3.75L
Race 5. Liwa Oasis (Group 1) Dh 250,000, 7F:
1. El Rigoletto (Gillian Duffield) Tadhg O'Shea; 2. Quaolina (Doug Watson) Richard Hills; 3.UAE Non Stop (Majid Al Jahouri) Jesus Rosales.
Time: 1:32.28; Distances: 0.25L, 2L
Race 6. Lulu Island TB Rated-Conditions, 00-80, Dh 60,000, 8F:
1. Five Cents (Ali Rashid Al Raihe) Royston Ffrench; 2. Dahes (Ali Rashid Al Raihe) Tadhg O'Shea; 3.Ramadi (Ali Rashid Al Raihe) Ted Durcan.
Time: 1:37.68; Distances: 2L, Neck
