Richard Hughes, the British champion jockey, will step in for Wayne Smith, who is recovering from the broken collarbone he suffered two weeks ago, on Friday at Jebel Ali.
Hughes, who won once from two rides in his first day at work in the Emirates season, has a busy afternoon riding in place of the stable jockey for the Emirati trainer Musabah Al Muhairi.
He competes in all six races, including rides on course specialist Russian Rock and Canary Wharf in the two featured races.
Al Muhairi has two entries in the Conditions race over 1,200 metres with Russian Rock and Muarrab, ridden by Paul Hanagan, the retained jockey for Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid.
Russian Rock, the two-time Jebel Ali Sprint winner, is after an unprecedented eighth victory at Jebel Ali. The six-year-old son of the famed Rock Of Gibraltar looked as good as ever when winning on his seasonal return, three weeks ago.
Muarrab, his stable companion, has won three of his four course starts, including both this season, and looks the main danger along with Dhruba Selvaratnam’s United Color, who chased home Russian Rock in this race last year. He later won at the Dubai World Cup Carnival before a career-best fourth in the Group 1 Golden Shaheen on Dubai World Cup night.
“He has not run since then, so he will improve for this run,” Selvaratnam said of his four-year-old bay colt by Ghostzapper.
Hughes rides Canary Wharf in the preceding Jebel Ali Stakes Prep, but the Danehill Dancer colt will have to produce a career-best effort to win a race including the likes of Haatheq, Jutland and Dormello.
Ali Rashid Al Raihe’s Haatheq appears to have a strong chance, having won on his reappearance at Meydan on November 21. He was runner-up to Treble Jig in this race last year and demonstrated his consistency when finishing second to the impressive Soft Falling Rain in the Group 2 Godolphin Mile on Dubai World Cup day last season.
That has made the son of Seeking The Gold the choice of Hanagan from the owner’s three runners.
“We know the conditions suit him and he won nicely last time. This is perhaps a better race, but we will not be far away,” Hanagan said.
Jutland has to give weight to his rivals after his victory in last season’s Group 3 Abu Dhabi Championship. He was third in the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup at Meydan on Dubai World Cup night.
“This has been the plan since his run a month ago, and he is in great form at home,” said Doug Watson, his trainer.
Dormello was third in the Abu Dhabi contest won by Jutland in March but may just need this run on his first outing of the season.
“This is a good race for his comeback run, but he is certainly going to improve for the race,” Selvaratnam said. “Hopefully, he is going to be competitive for us at the Carnival, where we are looking at some of the turf races for him.”
Hughes rides Colmar Kid in the opener, Interpret half an hour later, and Tagseed and Dress Down in the fifth and sixth races.
Timings
2.15pm Handicap (rated 70-85), Dh80,000
2.45pm Handicap (75-90), Dh85,000
3.15pm Jebel Ali Stakes Prep, Dh120,000
3.45pm Conditions, Dh120,000
4.15pm Handicap (80-85), Dh100,000
4.45pm Maiden, Dh60,000
apassela@thenational.ae
