Feet So Fast unstoppable

Running for the second time in four days, the Satish Seemar-trained Feet So Fast with apprentice jockey Ryan Moore made no mistake this time out to win the His Highness The President's Cup in a thrilling finish at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club racecourse here yesterday.

Apart from Feet So Fast's triumph, the unstoppable Kal Barq and Sarrab gave trainer Yancey Carter Jr. and jockey Willie Supple a smart double.

However, it was the close finish in the featured race, the President's Cup, which had drawn a quality field and the runners lived up to that.

Feet So Fast had finished second to Orchestrated in Nad Al Sheba on Thursday night, but owner Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed Al Maktoum decided to run him again last night and the four-year-old son of Pivotal staved off a gutsy challenge from John Sadler's Royal Tryst to win by the narrowest of margins in a photo finish.

Tawi Murghem winner Conflict was the favourite with Feet So Fast the next and Godolphin's first runner of the season, Divine Task a close third.

Conflict did most of the early running and stayed ahead when the pack entered the home stretch. Royal Tryst, the National Day Cup winner, had some traffic problems and from last made a brilliant effort on the outside, while Ryan, who got to ride Feet So fast because Colm O'Donoghue was indisposed, took the chestnut gelding to the front.

Feet So Fast, however, had to battle hard to stave off Royal Tryst as the two were involved in a stride-to-stride tussle.

Sadler's ward Tryst (John Murtagh up) almost caught Feet So Fast, but the effort was a wee bit late and a nose separated the two in the photo finish. Conflict finished third ahead of Divine Task.

Commenting on Feet So Fast's win Seemar said: "He did not do well on dirt and Sheikh Rashid shifted him to turf. On Thursday he came second and when Sheikh Rashid decided to run him here, I was delighted. He came here with a very good record, but took time to acclimatise," Seemar said.

"It was a pleasure to win this race today with such good horses," said Seemar, who was winning the President's Cup for the third with Diffident and Susu having won earlier.

"With about 50 metres to go I went all out and he did well to keep his nose ahead. I almost thought Royal Tryst had caught me at the line," said Ryan Moore, the winning jockey.

Earlier in the night, Kal Barq, the six-year-old son of Dormane, came up with another sizzling run to notch up his fourth successive win of the season, his fifth in a row and his seventh in eight starts.

Kal Barq's win also gave the Yancey Carter-Willie Supple combination the first of their two wins. The pair again struck on either side of the His Highness The President's Cup with Sarrab winning the fifth race of the evening.

As in the last few meetings, Dr. Jaber Bittar finished off the night with a win, this time on AF Yasater (Tadhg O'Shea up).

Results:

1. Thoroughbreds, Handicap, 8F:
1. Royal Dance (Erwan Charpy) Seb Sanders; 2. Para Glider (Allan Smith) John Murtagh; 3. Spanish Bells (Paddy Rudkin) Michael Hills.
Dist: 1.25L, .75L, 3.25L Time: 1:37:64

2. Purebred Arabians, Maidens, 12F:
1. Karim De La Prade (Jeff Frazier Jr.) Michael Hills; 2. Eben Alghali (Erwan Charpy) Seb Sanders; 3. Sabeah (Julian Smart) Richard Mullen.
Dist: .50L, 1.25L, 1.75L. Time: 2:50:76

3. Purebred Arabians, Handicap, 11F:
1. Kal Barq (Yancey Carter Jr.) Willie Supple; 2. Djolly Good (Erwan Charpy) Seb Sanders; 3. I Feel Good (Jaci Wickham) Richard Mullen.
Dist: 2.25L, 5.50L, 3.50L Time: 2:32:57

4. His Highness The President's Cup,Thoroughbreds, Conditions (Listed) 7F:
1. Feet So Fast (Satish Seemar) Ryan Moore; 2. Royal Tryst (John Sadler) John Murtagh; 3. Conflict (Mazin M. Al Kurdi) Ted Durcan.
Dist: Nose, 2.75L, 1.25L. Dist: 1:23:14.

5. Purebred Arabians, Handicap, 8F:
1. Sarrab (Yancey Carter Jr.) Willie Supple; 2. Kerouan Lotois (Jean-Francois Bernard) John Murtagh; 3. Basilic De Ghazal (Dr. Jaber Bittar) Darren Biggs.
Not run: WFA Lancer.
Dist: .75L, .50L, 2.25L. Time: 1:47:91

6. Purebred Arabians, Conditions (UAE-bred), 8F:
1. AF Yasater (Dr. Jaber Bittar) Tadhg O'Shea; 2. AF Muntaha (Rod Simpson) Gary Hind; 3. Afaf (Rod Simpson) Chris Taylor.