ABU DHABI // Oisin Murphy won the featured-race double to celebrate his biggest race day in the UAE.
The former British champion apprentice rode Dormello to victory in the Dh400,000 Group 3 Abu Dhabi Championship for Jebel Ali Stables and then went on to bag the Dh1 million Emirates Championship onboard Its Far From Over to give trainer Omar Daraj his first Group 1 winner.
Dormello completed back-to-back victories, having won at his home track at Jebel Ali three weeks ago, but it was the first win in the UAE for Its Far From Over in 10 starts since arriving from the United States two years ago.
“It was a fantastic evening for me and I enjoyed it tonight, particularly winning two very competitive races,” Murphy said.
Daraj said the seven year old arrived at his stabled with some decent form in the United States.
“It looked like he took a long time to adapt, but I always thought he had the potential to win a big prize and he did it for us in good style tonight,” he said.
Murphy had the seven-year-old bay tucked in the middle of the nine-runner field before stepping on the pedal at the final 200-metre mark to go clear and hold off the late challenges from the Salem Al Ketbi-trained trio of Nymphea Du Paon, Shayel Aldhabi and Skoop.
“The plan was to hold him back as much as possible in the first half of the race and then gradually move him up before going all out on the home straight. The plan worked out perfectly for us on the night,” Daraj said.
Dhruba Selvaratnam is hoping that Dormello will receive an invite for the Dubai Sheema Classic on Dubai World Cup night.
“The Emirates Championship has been a lucky race for me,” the Jebel Ali trainer said after winning the prize for the fifth time since his last in 2008.
Tadhg O’Shea notched up three winners while the UAE jockeys championship leader Richard Mullen pulled one back. Three winners separate the two with three meetings left, including the Dubai World Cup.
O’Shea took first two races on the Al Ketbi-trained Rb Burning Ash in a maiden and Shaheer in the UAE Arabian Derby. He completed his third victory of the night on Eric Lemartinel’s Af Asefah in the second-last race of the meeting.
O’Shea had to work hard to get Rb Burning Ash in the final few strides to win the opener and made virtually all the running on Shaheer over the 2,200-metre trip.
“He had a bit of experience with two good runs here on the track and that had him in good stead today,” O’Shea said of Rb Burning Ash.
“The second horse kicked on and got a couple of lengths out of the field. A smoother passage would have got my guy winning a little more comfortably, but a head is good as five lengths.
“Shaheer was the best horse in the race, but with only a handful of runners we had to look around all the way and move in front much earlier than we would have wished. It didn’t work according to plan, but he won well at the end.”
apassela@thenational.ae
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