ABU DHABI // The Godolphin jockey Silvestre de Sousa won the President of the UAE Cup Prep race for the Purebred Arabians on newcomer Raaziq despite losing an iron on the home turn.
Raaziq arrived in the UAE with two victories from four starts in France, but De Sousa lost the stirrup on the right-side of his saddle though he hung on to clinch the featured prize by three-quarters of a length from Skoop under Tadhg O’Shea at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club last night.
Royston Ffrench, onboard Takaamul, finished a further one-and-three-quarter lengths back in third followed by Versac PY, Venom and Musharab.
“My horse was going well and in the lead when I lost an iron,” De Sousa said.
“I didn’t want to lose that momentum the horse was travelling and just kept riding him as best I could. And the horse did well to take me first over the line.”
Venom, under Patrick Cosgrave, set the early pace with Fryvolous and Kerkouan close behind. That order remained until the jockeys started to get to work as they approached the final bend.
Skoop, the UAE Arabian Derby winner and unbeaten in three races before last night, found himself stuck on the rails behind Venom and Takaamul, but hit the front once the opening appeared between the two, yet they had no answer to the awesome finishing power of Raaziq.
“He showed his potential with his first run and we are very pleased the way he did it,” said the Emirati trainer Majed Al Jahouri.
“There were a lot of low-rated horses in this field and they are a hindrance because they get tired in front and create traffic problems. This is a problem for us and those who have the potentially good horses.”
The worst affected in the race were Versac PY, the Dubai Kahayla Classic runner-up, and Al Jahouri’s Musharab, the winner of the 2013 Group 1 Emirates Championship.
Dane O’Neill had to steer Versac PY wide around a wall of horses while Harry Bentley onboard Musharab was caught up in traffic.
Erwan Charpy, Versac PY’s trainer, was pleased with the seven-year-old son of Njewman’s first effort for the season before he goes for the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 on February 6.
“His style of running is best suited on the track at Meydan where it has a longer straight to the finish,” the Frenchman said. “He was travelling well tonight and was still going well towards the end even though he had to come very, very wide with his challenge.
“It has been difficult for him to handle the shorter home straight in Abu Dhabi, particularly in bigger fields like tonight’s 15 runners. But I am very pleased with his first start because he is a horse that needs a little bit time to get ready and this will bring him a bit forward.”
O’Neill made every yard of the running for Nawaar to win the thoroughbred equivalent by two lengths from Signs In The Sand and Yaa Wayl.
The five year old followed his success in the Listed National Day Cup to record his second win in six weeks at the capital’s racecourse for trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
O’Shea completed a double to take his tally at the top of the jockeys’ championship to 22, six clear of O’Neill and Wayne Smith.
The UAE champion was first past the post on the UAE champion trainer Ernst Oertel’s Sheikh Down in the third race and rode Saifaldin Deeb’s Najem S’Heel to victory in the fifth race, the Al Wathba Stud Farm Cup.
apassela@thenational.ae
Results
5pm: Tahya Al Reef, Jose Santiago (jockey), Jaber Bittar (trainer).
5.30pm: Wadi Al Sayl, William Twiston-Davies, Omar Daraj.
6pm: Sheikh Down, Tadhg O'Shea, Ernst Oertel.
6.30pm: Raaziq, Silvestre De Sousa, Majed Al Jahouri.
7pm: Najem S'Heel, Tadhg O'Shea, Saifaldin Deeb.
7.30pm: Nawaar, Dane O'Neill, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
apassela@thenational.ae
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