Bhupat Seemar and Tadhg O’Shea celebrate treble at Meydan

Trainer-jockey partnership at Zabeel Stables enjoy hat-trick in final meeting of year at Dubai racecourse

Tadhg O’Shea guides Imperial Empire to victory at Meydan on Thursday, December 23, 2021. DHRIC

Bhupat Seemar and Tadhg O’Shea, the trainer-jockey partnership at Zabeel Stables, scooped a treble at Meydan’s final meeting of the year on Thursday.

They set the ball rolling by taking the second race with Summer Is Tomorrow and then grabbed the two feature prizes of the six-race card with Imperial Empire and Al Nefud, both in the silks of Al Rashid Stables.

Summer Is Tomorrow took the honours in the British Business Group maiden for owners Michael and Negar Burke.

Imperial Empire and Al Nefud are former Godolphin runners and they are likely to heading for the Dubai World Cup Carnival in January after their impressive victories.

Imperial Empire was completing back-to-back wins over the track and trip and Al Nefud made a successful local debut.

Drawn widest of the nine runners, O’Shea produced a late run on Imperial Empire to win from Syrtis and Kimbear by two and-a-quarter lengths and three lengths.

“He’s been training really well and he’s a really well-bred Dubawi,” Seemar said of Al Nefud.

“He’s a big horse. Reminds me some of the ones we had in the past and we got a great team behind us and I’m just a small part of it. They do a wonderful job.

“We were really thinking he cannot run a bad race. We thought he’s going to win but again we didn’t think he would win like this.”

Drawn wide of the five runners, O’Shea got him around the other horses to settle him in front, and then sprinted away to win by six and-a-quarter lengths from Atlantic Sky.

“He’s slow out of the gate and that’s what we afraid of but with only five runners so it was easy for Tadhg to go around the field,” Bhupat added.

“He’s a front-runner back in the UK and he can go further as he has the stamina and the speed as well. It’s a great combination to have. He ran thrice in the UK and got beat by horses rated over 100. It would have been terrible if he got beat today.”

Results

6.35pm American Business Council — Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 1,600m

Winner Thayer Athbah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Mohamed Daggash (trainer)

7.10pm British Business Group — Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,200m

Winner Summer Is Tomorrow, Tadhg O’Shea, Bhupat Seemar

7.45pm CCI France UAE — Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m

Winner Quality Boone, Vagner Leal, Cintra Pereira

8.20pm Czech Business Council — Rated Conditions (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,400m

Winner Imperial Empire, Tadhg O’Shea, Bhupat Seemar

8.55pm Netherlands Business Council — Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m

Winner Al Nefud, Tadhg O’Shea, Bhupat Seemar

9.30pm Indian Business and Professional Council — Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,200m

Winner Meraas, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi