Adrie de Vries on board Thegreatcollection gate-crashed to spoil what would have been an emotional swansong of Shamaal Nibras at the Jebel Ali race meeting on Friday.
Shamaal Nibras was pipped at the winning post by the bob of the head but he walked into the sunset of his career at age 11 with his head held high.
The First Samurai gelding, under stable jockey Pat Dobbs, put up a gallant effort in the Jebel Ali Classic, a prize he had won twice in the last three years.
Doug Watson who saddled the first two home in the race was winning the prize for the fourth time since it was first run in 2017.
Shamaal Nibras won it in the inaugural year and won it again in 2019. Cosmo Charlie won the prize in 2018 and now Thegreatcollection led a one-two finish for the six-time UAE champion trainer to keep his stranglehold of the Jebel Ali Classic.
Watson completed a treble in the bumper eight-race card with three different jockeys.
Sam Hitchcott rode Just A Penny to win the second race and Dobbs won the next atop Native Appeal to take the Red Stables trainer’s tally to 34, eight behind Satish Seemar who leads the UAE trainer’s championship.
Seemar saddled a double with Tadhg O’Shea bringing home Majestic Thunder in the opener and Madame Ellingtina an impressive winner of the sixth race under stable jockey Richard Mullen.
Three different trainers, jockeys and owners shared the remaining three prizes at the meeting that was staged behind closed doors and without access for media interviews with the winning connections as a precaution to reduce the impact of the Coronavirus.
