Pat Cosgrave bagged the two featured prizes that were on offer at Meydan’s fourth race meeting.
He rode the Helal Al Alawi-trained RB Frynchh Dude to victory in the Group 2 Madjani Stakes for Purebred Arabians and completed the double atop Doug Watson’s Thegreatcollection in the Listed Dubai Creek Mile for the thoroughbreds.
Cosgrave produced Thegreatcollection with a late run to overhaul last year’s winner Secret Ambition and Capezzano, the two early pace setters.
“He’s one of the slowest workhorses we have in the yard,” Watson said of Thegreatcollection.
“I thought he had a lot of strength tonight and when the pace set-up in front like that Pat just sat behind without trying to bully him into the race, and then picked them up towards the end.”
Watson celebrated a treble on the night after Mnasek made a winning racecourse debut and Meqdam proving third time lucky after finishing runner up in his last two starts.
Mnasek appeared to be the third choice on the jockey bookings of the three Watson runners, but came home an impressive winner by six and three-quarter lengths under Dane O’Neill.
“We have had her only for about a month and she’s bred to go on this [surface],” Watson said of the Empire Maker filly who came from last to first after missing the break.
“I didn’t expect that. When she missed the break and 10 lengths behind, I thought 'oh well, hopefully she’ll make up some ground'. When she turned in, I thought now she’ll get tired, but she didn’t do it either. She finished well.”
Sam Hitchcock was on board Meqdam, another prolific winner for the Red Stables trainer who took his tally to 14 winners for the season.
Earlier in the opening race, a change of surface from turf to dirt and back on a left-handed track did the trick for RB Frynchh Dude, who made all under Cosgrave.
Helal Al Alawi’s four-year-old colt by Baseq Al Khalediah had run all his seven races in his native US on dirt.
He was unplaced in his first two local starts on the turf in Abu Dhabi but showed his class on familiar surface.
Cosgrave had him quickly out of gate 6 and led all the way to win from Amwaj under Fabrice Veron and Aoun with Antonio Fresu atop by two lengths and a head respectively.
“He ran a nice race in Abu Dhabi despite having drawn the widest in gate 16,” Cosgrave said.
“I don’t think he was all that confident on the right handed (track in Abu Dhabi), and back on left handed and back on the surface he was winning on saw a big improvement in him.”
