Antonio Fresu rode a double on Sunday to keep the pressure on Tadhg O’Shea in the UAE jockeys' championship race at Meydan.
The Italian took the opener, for Purebred Arabians, on Musabah Al Muhairi’s Namood and won the penultimate race on Dahawi for the same trainer to take his tally to 36, three behind O’Shea.
Soon after Fresu had closed the gap, the nine-time UAE champion jockey hit back by taking the second race on Bhupat Seemar’s Shadzadi.
Third behind the UAE 1,000 Guineas winner Shahama in the Guineas Trial, Shadzadi won from Nobody’s Joke and Remas by three-and-a-quarter lengths and a length-and-three-quarters, respectively.
“She was entered in the UAE 1,000 Guineas on Friday, but in my book Shahama is a league of her own against her own sex this season,” O’Shea said of the El Kabeir filly.
“We thought [Shadzadi] might run second or third but it's important to get a win. This filly needs to come back in distance, she’ll be better suited at six [furlongs]. Her class got her through today I’m glad Plan A came off the yard are continuing in great form.
“I’ve said it umpteen times, when you’re riding the best horse in the race gaps come normal, naturally and if you need a gap you tend to get one because you’re travelling better than the rest.
“I wasn’t going to complicate it, she was the best filly in the race, and I was hoping to just get a nice smooth passage all the way around. She’s a relatively inexperienced filly but she was the best in the race.”
Namrood was impressive on his local debut, coming home unchallenged to win by eight and three-quarter lengths from Thayer Athbah.
“The horse won in a very good style,” Fresu said of the five year old gelding by General.
“He came from France with a rating of 100 but he wasn’t showing us a lot in the morning so I wasn’t that confident. In the morning he’s very laid back, doesn’t put himself into the job.
“I tried to take a chance at the rail and take the front because it was his first time on the dirt and I didn’t want to give him any kickback, to find any excuses. But the horse was travelling beautifully and when I asked him to go he kicked on really well.”
