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| Rowan Anderson |
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Tadhg O’Shea is proving once again that in the saddle not many come close to him in terms of his record-breaking career in the UAE.
He has already broken the all-time riding wins in the region with over 700 across 22 seasons and with ten UAE jockey championship titles to his name he does not look anywhere close to stopping or even slowing down.
The 40-year-old Irish hoop sits atop the current Jockey’s Championship ladder and just when you thought he couldn’t shoot clearer or take a stronger grasp on the title, he wins five on a six-race card in Abu Dhabi overnight.
He now sits on 52 wins with a further 69 placings and has amassed AED $5,285,962 in prize money for the season so far. The next closest hoop is Antonio Fresu who is 13 wins below O’Shea.
From the five victories for O’Shea four were delivered for trainer Ernst Oertel, who now sits third on the trainer’s championship below only Zabeel Stables’ Bhupat Seemar and Red Stables’ Doug Watson.
Over 1400m, the Group 2 Liwa Oasis was the Thursday highlight on the turf at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club and was won by Af Alajaj, the fourth homebred winner on the card for Khalid Khalifa Al Nabooda saddled by Ernst Oertel, in a gritty short head winning display under O’Shea.
The 6yo entire was always travelling well before hitting the front inside the final 275m and digging deep to cling on for a hard-fought success. He has now won half of his 14 career starts.
“He is one of my favourite horses in the yard and is a pleasure to be associated with. That was another top effort,” O’Shea said.
“That is why Tadhg is champion and this is a very nice horse who will now go for the Kahayla Classic,” trainer Oertel added.
In the other highlight on the card, the 2200m Group 3 Arabian Triple Crown R2, the middle leg of the series and the evening’s fourth race, provided O’Shea a chance to extend the winner’s circle visits partnered with National Stables’ Joe Star for trainer Helal Alalawi winning by 2.75 lengths over the Fawzi Nass prepared Stryngs Attached.
The pair hit the front approaching the final 400m and, once in front, soon had the race put away. He has now won both his local starts having landed a conditions race, under O’Shea, over 1800m on the Al Ain dirt on his first start locally.
“Everything has just fallen right so far tonight and it has been a great evening. This is a nice horse who is versatile but will be better next season and has plenty of class. I really like him and think he has a big future,” the hoop commented.
The winning run began in the opener, the Al Maha Stables maiden, onboard Af Alfahem winning by four lengths. The race for horses foaled locally ended up being all about the winner who was never challenged in the colours of Khalid Khalifa Al Nabooda for Ernst Oertel.
The homebred 4yo colt was making just his second racecourse appearance after a well-beaten effort in sixth on debut in a 1400m maiden up the hill on the Jebel Ali dirt.
In race two the Oertel and O’Shea combination made it a quick race to race double when Af Musannef won by a short head. Another Al Nabooda homebred, the 7yo entire is now the winner of seven races.
The team would return to the winner’s circle thirty minutes later with Af Rasam winning the 1400m handicap.
Silent Defense and Oscar Chavez landed the only Thoroughbred race on the card, the concluding 1400m handicap, in the colours of the Bouresly Racing Syndicate for Rashed Bouresly.