DUBAI // Trainer Satish Seemar and his stable jockey, Richard Mullen, were in double form at Jebel Ali on Friday afternoon, combining with Spin Cycle to win a 1,200-metre handicap and with Mawhub for victory in an 1,800m handicap.
For Spin Cycle, it was a first success since winning the Listed Jebel Ali Sprint in March 2011 and he tried to lead throughout under a positive ride from Mullen.
The pair were reeled in at about the halfway point by Sholaan but that rival, under a welterweight on his seasonal debut, had tired enough 200m from home to allow Mullen’s mount to hit the front again.
They powered to the line to win comfortably
“He ran well enough at Meydan last week when Marc Monaghan rode him. Marc suggested we ride him more prominently and he has been proved right,” Mullen said.
“It has been a long time since his last win but he has run some good races in defeat in the interim and he acts really well on this dirt surface.”
Mawhub’s victory in the concluding 1,800m handicap was more comfortable, with the horse clearly having progressed from his seasonal return two weeks ago, when second at Jebel Ali over 1,600m.
“He ran very well at the last meeting,” Mullen said. “This extra 200 metres has really suited him and he did it nicely. It has been a good afternoon.”
The official feature, a 1,400m conditions race, was won in style by Encipher, who made all under Royston Ffrench for his main employer, trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
A winner of a 1,400m handicap on his seasonal debut on this card last year, when trained by Ismail Mohammed, Encipher was registering his first local victory for his new connections, although he did win for them in Muscat in April.
Ffrench said: “He is a nice horse, smart and versatile. We were carrying a penalty but were pretty confident as his work has been very good. He likes the track and goes well fresh.
“We were very hopeful coming into this race and keen to be positive on him and the tactics worked well. We have had a great start to the season and long may it continue.”
Dhruba Selvaratnam, who trains on the track for racecourse patron Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid, has recruited UK champion apprentice Oisin Murphy as stable jockey this season and the pair registered their first victory with the success of Momaris in a 1,400m handicap.
Murphy said: “Obviously it is great to get that first winner on the board. I am really enjoying this opportunity and looking forward to the rest of the season.
“It is a great opportunity and the experience is invaluable.”
JEANNE TO SEND OUT MH AREEB AT SHARJAH
Trainer Elise Jeanne will look to MH Areeb to provide her with a second victory as a trainer at Sharjah on Saturday when he runs under Harry Bentley in a 2,000-metre handicap.
“At least he is proven on this track,” jockey Harry Bentley said of the colt who won at Sharjah this time last year.
Laahaq also looks promising, particularly with the 3kg advantage afforded apprentice jockey Saeed Al Mazrouei. The most prominent horse in the field, though, is probably Ernst Oertel’s unbeaten Bedayer Al Asayl, a winner of both her career starts.
She won over course and distance a week ago, denying Fantastique MHF. In the day’s only thoroughbred race, Satish Seemar’s Athman looks formidable in a 1,200m maiden.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
