Saher outclasses Salaamah to prove critics wrong with star performance

Frankfurt, Germany: Jockey Philippe Sogorb ran a well-judged race on Saher to outclass the fancied Salaamah in the Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup (Listed) race and complete a 1-2 finish for owner Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.

The fourth leg of this year's Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan's Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival series here also saw the first Listed race for Purebred Arabians being run here in Frankfurt and Saher came out with flying colours.

The three-year-old gelding is the son of Tornado de Syrah, who won on debut and then came up with a competent fourth place finish in a Group 1 race in Chantilly early last month.

Under Sogorb, Saher finished second in a Group 2 race in La Teste, France but on Sunday proved his mettle beyond doubt.

Salaamah, chasing her third consecutive win and fourth in five races started as the one to beat under Charles Nora.

Upstaged

The 3-year-old Njewman filly took up the early running but soon was headed by one of the five Polish runners in the field when Boogie Woogie took over.

Sogorb kept Saher well within striking distance and with about two furlongs left began his charge.

Salaamah, who has won all her races over seven furlongs, once again found the extra furlong a little too much and despite a late run could not catch up with Saher.

Belgium representative Kadesch ran into third place with Saher taking 1:48.28 to complete the mile's distance.

"Saher ran a great race and has proved that he will be a useful runner for the future. In training he is great but during a competition he sometimes gets heady. Today he was spot on," said Martial Boisseuil, manager of the Wathba Stud Farm.

"He is not our stable star and there are at least four others who are better than him but today's win against Salaamah has given him a better status," said Boisseuil, who looks after Shaikh Mansour's operations in the Normandy-based stables.

"Salaamah will improve and though the mile's distance seems to be a bit tight for her, I am confident that she will improve after this run. She does have some class," he said, adding that both his runners will now earn a well-deserved rest.

A large Sunday crowd packed the Frankfurt racecourse which was drenched by a heavy downpour an hour before the 8-race meeting kicked off as Frankfurt marked its 150th year as a racing venue. The Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup Listed Race is the fourth in the 2010 Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan's Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival with two more races in Warsaw, Poland and Craon, France completing the series.

Organised by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (Adach) in coordination with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and Wathba Stud Farm, the race series is supported by Invest Abu Dhabi, Bonyan International Investment Group (Holding) LLC and the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2010.