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| Rowan Anderson |
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Racing returned to Abu Dhabi and with the six-race card came another Ernst Oertel and Tadhg O’Shea winning double.
The card opened with a 2200m handicap for horses in private ownership with the first leg of the double kicking off proceedings.
Tadhg O’Shea, riding for his main employer, Champion Owner Khalid Khalif Al Nabooda rode AF Ramz comfortably hitting the lead with 275m left of the trip and scoring by less than a length.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti0kvb54KnE
The victory made it the 400th winner in the UAE for the owner.
The 6YO made it his third career success as well as third consecutive on his seasonal debut after winning in March in a dominant display by close to five lengths.
The horse is showing he relishes the 2200 distance with the past two over that journey.
“He is a nice horse and we have given him plenty of time as we did not want to rush him. We had this race in mind for a while and it has proved a good decision,” trainer Oertel said.
The second leg of the Oertel-O’Shea double came over the 1400 in the Liwa Oasis handicap (race 4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOwgK1N9FQw
O’Shea showed his ability on board Af Ghayyar who led 200m from home after tracking the leaders well and scoring by 1.25 lengths.
Trainer Oertel took the quinella , with AF Layth taking the second spot, both rides homebred by Al Nabooda, adding to his own success for the meet.
“We had a nice draw, they went a nice, steady gallop and I was able to get a good posse in behind. It all worked out well,” jockey O’Shea said.
The closing race on the card was the one for thoroughbreds for the night run over the 1600 for the Al Quadra Desert handicap.
Drawing the inside gate, it was the 6YO Mouser who was piloted through late under Sandro Paiva causing the upset over the field and taking the win for Mohamed Ibrahim and owner Sultan Ismail Ahmad Abdulla Albalooshi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwNbwOuNzjI
It took nine starts for the gelded son of Kittens Joy to break his maiden after going unraced while under the ownership of Godolphin.
“I rode on his only start this season at Jebel Ali, over 1950m, and he has clearly enjoyed the shorter distance and switch to turf. I think he can improve on this,” jockey Paiva said.
Jebel Ali will now hold a night of racing with a six-race card on Saturday which includes two maiden races as well as the AED $100,000 Jebel Ali Stakes Prep over the 1800m.
By Rowan Anderson