Emirati owner-breeder Khalid Khalifa Al Naboodah achieved another milestone by crossing the 400-winner mark with a double in Abu Dhabi’s fifth meeting of the season on Thursday.
AF Ramz secured the landmark under Tadhg O’Shea and then AF Ghayyar triumphed with the Irishman in the saddle to complete a double for the businessman and his trainer Ernst Oertel.
“Indeed he must be happy with his 400th winner and we are very pleased,” Oertel, who began a new owner-trainer partnership with Al Naboodah more than six years ago, said.
Al Naboodah, bidding for a fifth UAE owner’s championship, moved on to 16 winners, six more than Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid. The two winners also took O’Shea’s tally to 22, six ahead of his closest challenger Antonio Fresu.
AF Ramz was making his first appearance of the season and was completing a hat-trick, having won his last two starts in March.
The six-year-old tracked the leaders before making smooth headway on the home stretch to win from RB Secondtonone and Alsaeid.
“We had to keep him for the right race without rushing him too much and he did the job for me,” Oertel said.
O’Shea rode a similar race on AF Ghayyar, tracking the leaders before a big effort in the final 200m saw off stable companion AF Layth.
Nisren Mahgoub is enjoying a fantastic first season as the first Sudanese female trainer in the UAE.
She saddled her third winner when Raazaq Baynounah, under Patrick Cosgrave, took the Rab Al Khali maiden by more than six lengths from Hazem Al Wathba.
Mohamed Ibrahim celebrated his first winner of the season when Sandro Paiva brought home Mouser with a strong late run to collar the Ahmed Al Shemaili-trained pair Beluga Gold and Green Team Station.
Results
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (Turf) 2,200m
Winner: AF Ramz, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Rub Al Khali – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Raazaq Baynounah, Patrick Cosgrave, Nisren Mahgoub
6pm: Al Marmoom Desert – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Mizna, Richard Mullen, Salem Al Ketbi
6.30pm: Liwa Oasis – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AF Ghayyar, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Al Khatim Desert – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Shoaja’a Muscat, Khalifa Al Neyadi, Saif Al Balushi
7.30pm: Al Quadra Desert – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Mouser, Sandro Paiva, Mohamed Ibrahim
