Shateh stars and Paddy’s Day disappoints as Abu Dhabi horse racing season begins

Amith Passela reports on the opening night of the Abu Dhabi racing season, as Paddy's Day did not impress ahead of next week's Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown.

Richard Mullen atop Shateh races to victory on Sunday in the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown prep race in Abu Dhabi. Christopher Pike / The National / November 6, 2016

ABU DHABI // Paddy’s Day flattered to disappoint again on his return to the UAE capital and came in fifth to Shateh in the feature race at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club’s season-opener.

All eyes at the meeting in the capital last night were on Paddy’s Day, the American challenger for next Sunday’s €1.2 million (nearly Dh5m) Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown.

Paddy’s Day finished last in the 15-runner field in the first edition of that race, but has won 16 from 23 starts.

That became 24 as he flopped again in a field of 12.

It was not clear if his connections wanted to give him a run in preparation for the world’s richest race for Purebred Arabians, but he certainly did not impress yesterday.

Paddy’s Day ran in fourth for most of the 1,600-metre distance. Pat Dobbs even had to give him a reminder at the 800m marker to stay with the leaders but dropped a spot farther.

To have him compete seven days before the big race was a risk from Scott Powell, the trainer and part owner of the five-year-old bay son of Burning Sand.

Meanwhile Shateh, who was ridden by Richard Mullen, landed the winning purse of Dh 125,000. The chestnut son of Mahabb was quickly out of the gate and led from start to finish to win by three-quarter length from AF Maqayes, with Abu Alabyad a farther three-and-a-half lengths behind in third.

Majed Al Jahouri, Shateh’s handler, said “he was not 100 per cent coming into the race but he won very nicely for a horse returning in nearly eight months.

“We wanted to run him so he could get an invite for the Jewel Crown should there be any late withdrawals. So, fingers crossed for next week. The instruction to Richard was not to allow any other horse to go in front of him, and he did a good job.”

Mullen was completing a double on the night after claiming the second race onboard AF Ashras.

That win also completed a double for the Emirati owner Khalid Khalifa Al Nabooda after AF Monsef hand landed the opener under Fernando Jara, the Panamanian jockey who rode Invasor to victory in the Dubai World Cup in 2007.

One of the juveniles to impress most was Sanad, trained in Al Ain by Jean de Roualle for Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed.

The chestnut colt by Munjiz made all the running under Adries de Vries to win by more than seven lengths.

“Horses like this make the job looks easier,” the winning jockey said.

“It feels great to get one on the board as early as possible.”

De Roualle added: “He’s a nice horse with a lot of ability as he showed tonight. However, we’ll go easy with him without pushing him too much. We’ll see how he has come out of this race and decide what’s next for him.”

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