Ajtebi the apprentice hits big time

The apprentice UAE jockey Ahmed Ajtebi steered Regal Parade, an outsider, to victory in the Buckingham Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Ahmed Ajtebi was delighted with his first winner at Royal Ascot.
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LONDON // The UAE apprentice jockey Ahmed Ajtebi added another feather to his cap, a most notable one at that, when he rode his first winner at the Royal Ascot meeting on Friday.

Ajtebi, 25, steered Regal Parade, an outsider, to victory in the Buckingham Palace Stakes for trainer David Nicholls, and he said: "It's my first ride here and my first winner. Just coming to Royal Ascot I didn't mind if I had a winner, the experience was enough on its own."

It was Ajtebi's 51st win overall and his second in the UK after he rode the Clive Brittain-trained Bahar Shumaal to victory in the featured handicap over a mile at Leicester a day earlier.

"Any race I win here is different from anywhere else, let alone at Royal Ascot."

Ajtebi, who is attached to Brittain's stable, was then riding the favourite who came clear in the end to score over Den's Gift.



apassela@thenational.ae