ABU DHABI // The National Day Cup Prep races for purebred Arabians and thoroughbreds are the highlights of tonight’s race meeting at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club.
Ernst Oertel, the two-time UAE champion trainer who saddled a treble in the capital’s opening meeting of the season last week, has a strong hand in the Prep race for the Arabians with Nymphea Du Paon.
With seven winners for the season to date, the South African will be looking for another multi-win meeting with seven entered for three prizes across the six-race card.
Nymphea Du Paon will be favourite in the feature race for the Arabians, having won seven of her eight career starts (she was disqualified in one after a stewards inquiry).
Tadhg O’Shea, the UAE champion and stable jockey, will be onboard the Mahabb filly. Stable apprentice Daniel Muscutt is on Fee Al Maury, who is to make her local debut after winning once from five starts in France.
“She [Nymphea Du Paon] was a really good filly for the yard last season. She seems in really good form at home and is hopefully improving,” Oertel said.
Majed Al Jahouri, the Emirati trainer who made a clean sweep of all the Group 1 prizes for the Arabians last season, is also double handed with Marzooq and Shateh. They are backing up from last week when they ran in the Group 3 Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup.
Marzooq was fourth and Shateh second behind stable companion Thakif in that race over tonight’s distance.
“They arrived last season and were both making their local debuts. I would expect them to improve from that run,” said the Al Wathba Stable trainer.
Oertel has three entered in the opener, a maiden run over 1,600 metres, and a pair in the third race, a handicap over the same distance.
O’Shea rides newcomer Mel De Piboul in the first race and an hour later will be onboard Nashmee, a winner of his only start last season in Al Ain.
The thoroughbred event has drawn eight runners with half of them in the popular silks of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid.
Ali Rashid Al Raihe’s Nawwaar under the owner’s retained jockey Dane O’Neill spearheads the challenge.
The five-year-old chestnut son of Distorted Humor is unbeaten in his three visits to Abu Dhabi, which includes last season’s National Day Cup and the President of the UAE Cup.
“Obviously the Abu Dhabi turf track really suits him,” O’Neill said. “We have a decent draw and have to be hopeful, although the penalty (he must carry 2.5kg more for those victories) makes life a bit tougher.”
Derbaas, also owned by Sheikh Hamdan and trained by Al Raihe, is seeking a third consecutive win in a prep race. Royston Ffrench’s mount chased home Nawwaar in last year’s National Day Cup, having won the race the previous season.
apassela@thenational.ae
