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| Staff Writer |
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The final Dubai Racing Carnival fixture at Meydan Racecourse saw history being made on Friday night. Ahmed Al Mehairbi's Al Laith became the first Purebred Arabian to win a race on the turf track when the horse dominated proceedings in the Gr.2 Mazrat Al Ruwayah sponsored by Emaar. Ridden by Ben Coen, Al Laith tried to claim the rail but was forced to take his orders wide just off the pace set by Namrood.
However, Coen was duly rewarded in the straight when the horses in front of him peeled wide, making room for Al Laith to lay down the gauntlet. Al Laith hit the front with minimal urgings and then extended fully to pull clear and win by a length and three-quarters from Heros De Lagarde, trained by Ibrahim Al Hadhrami and ridden by Connor Beasley. Ernst Oertel's AF Maqam, the ride of Tadhg O'Shea, came in second, a further half length back.
While Al Mehairbi enjoyed feature success, Bhupat Seemar earned the training plaudits on the night. The former UAE Champion Trainer took major strides towards a second title with a quickfire hat-trick, courtesy of Mezzotinto, Poster Paint, and Guns And Glory. The treble was of a five-for on the night for the Zabeel Stables supremo.
The Initforthesun Syndicate, the owners of Mezzotinto, finally saw luck on their side as their horse shed his maiden tag on his 22nd racecourse attempt in The Oasis 1200m maiden. Mezzotinto led home a 1-2 for his trainer, finishing four-and-a-quarter lengths clear of stablemate Sikorsky, the ride of Richard Mullen. Poster Paint under Sandro Paiva won the subsequent 1800m Valley handicap, where he ran home gamely to comfortably thwart Saeed bin Suroor's First View (Charlie Bennett) by a half-length.
Guns And Glory shot down the opposition by a dozen lengths in the 3YOs Conditions event over 1900m, and connections are now eyeing an invite to the Gr.2 UAE Derby.
After O'Shea's double, Coen added a brace to his tally. The Irish rider collected a second on the night after weaving his way through traffic to hit the front in the 1600m Downtown Dubai handicap 50m from the finish aboard Lucie Botti's Royal Dubai, who was a neck clear at the post from Simon and Ed Crisfords' King Of Time, the ride of Adrie de Vries.
Seemar's yard was flying high on the final night, and the Zabeel Stables boss claimed a fourth after Arabian Tale defied a wide break and dominated proceedings to win the Dubai Hills Estate handicap over 1800m. The one and a half length victory brought up a third success on the evening for champion jockey O'Shea.
Doug Watson-trained Saqqara King finished the runner-up under Pat Dobbs, who won the following 1200m Dubai Creek Harbour handicap with Simon and Ed Crisfords' previous Dubai Racing Carnival scorer Vespasian, who hit the front inside the final 200m and was chased home by Faattik, a Michael Costa trainee, ridden by Coen.
Seemar drew level with Costa in the UAE Trainers' Championship race at 34 wins after completing a five-for with Elusive Terry. Elusive Terry claimed the 1400m Emaar South handicap under Pat Cosgrave. Elusive Terry hit the front just before straightening up, with stablemate Border Edge (O'Shea) going eye-to-eye from a sweet position along the rail with a little over 200m left to run.
However, the Raven's Pass colt wasn't done and finding more kick, skipped away to a two-length success ahead of Ahmad bin Harmash's Triple Venture, the ride of Beasley.
Costa managed to regain his lead in the trainers' race after winning the concluding event of the night and the 2023/24 Dubai Racing Carnival, the Arabian Ranches turf handicap over 1400m. In the race, the Aussie's long-shot Ajdayet overcame a bit of traffic early in the straight and ran home two clear of Watson's Jumaira Bay, the ride of Dobbs. Ajdayet's success helped bring up a treble for Coen.