Ode to Autum lands Jebel Ali feature; Bourelsy bags double

Racing at Jebel Ali on Friday afternoon, a bumper eight-race card, was officially highlighted by a 1400m handicap which developed into a duel throughout the second half of the race with Ode to Autum continually harried by local debutant Al Tariq before finally putting daylight between them in the final 50m under Richard Mullen.

Trained by Satish Seemar for Mohd Khalifa Al Basti, the 5-year-old Showcasing gelding was twice a winner in Britain on the all-weather at Newcastle, for John Gosden, and was doubling his local tally having six weeks ago won a handicap over this same Jebel Ali 1400m.

Fabrice Veron was never far off the speed in a 1400m maiden aboard Alla Mahlak before driving his mount past Leadership, the pair always prominent in the main group of runners who raced on the far side of the track with Dark Thunder, who finished third, also in the same bunch.

Owned by the Bouresly Racing Syndicate and trained by Rashed Bourelsy, the 4-year-old Kitten’s Joy colt has only ever raced in the UAE and this maiden victory was registered after 12 previous attempts, all bar two on dirt surfaces. A third placing, over 1600m on dirt at Meydan in November, was his best previous effort.

Thirty minutes later owner and train were celebrating a course and distance double with Davy Lamp landing the 1400m handicap with a virtual carbon copy performance, the main difference being Adrie de Vries was in the saddle on this occasion.

Probably fastest away when the stalls opened, De Vries was happy to take a lead from Xavier Ziani aboard Rich And Famous before asking his mount to win the race 300m out. The response was instant and the race over.

A 5-year-old gelded son of Shamardal, Davy Lamp is another to have only raced locally. In his case he was losing his maiden tag at the tenth attempt, has never raced on turf and had two third places on his CV, both this season in handicaps, over 1600m at Meydan in November and in a 1200m dash at Sharjah three weeks ago.

Pat Dobbs looked confident throughout the vast majority of the 1950m handicap and arrived effortlessly aboard Arch Gold to challenge the leaders with about 600m to go but waited until about the 300m pole before asking this mount for a real challenge. They were soon clear and always holding a renewed challenge from Al Barez.

Trained by Doug Watson for Hussain Alabbas Lootah, the 5-year-old Arch gelding, who arrived a maiden for his first UAE campaign and his second local outing was a winning one, a handicap over this course in distance in November 2018. He also won on the dirt at Meydan in a 220m handicap at the beginning of December.

Trainer and jockey were soon celebrating a double, combining to land the following 1800m maiden with Meqdam, having his sixth career outing, third in the UAE but third for Watson.

Owned by Musaab Mamoun Suleman El Maki, the 4-year-old Dubawi gelding’s first two local outings were for Satish Seemar, most recently a fourth over 1950m here at Jebel Ali four weeks ago.

Ridden confidently by Dobbs, who patiently waited for a gap to appear between Desert Son and Ma Yahab, once asked to win his race Meqdam quickened well and soon had the race in safekeeping.

Native Appeal and Sam Hitchcott then provided Watson a third consecutive victory on the card, running on too strongly for Tailor’s Row who had tried to make all in a 1800m handicap. Drawn three, Hitchcott stuck to the rail aboard the 5-year-old Exceed And Excel gelding and seemingly always had Xavier Ziani and Tailor’s Row in his sights.

Challenging just inside the final 400m, Hitchcott’s mount was soon in front and never looked likely to be caught with Tailor’s Row holding off Dobbs on Watson’s Right Flank who was third with another stable companion, Maqaadeer, staying on for fourth.

A Jebel Ali winner over 1600m on his penultimate start, Native Appeal was bouncing back to form having, a fortnight ago, failed to land a blow over that same course and distance.

The only Purebred Arabian race was the opening 1800m handicap for horses foaled in the UAE and, as is so often the case in these races, totally dominated by owner Khalid Khalifa Al Nabooda and Ernst Oertel who trains the vast majority of his string, the pair providing the first three home.

Tadhg O’Shea, retained by the owner, picked the right one and was victorious aboard AF Al Baher, chased home by AF Al Jahed who had led until the 300m pole under Connor Beasley who was a clear second from Antonio Fresu’s mount  AF Motaghatres who never threatened but stayed on dourly for third.

Homebred, it was a fifth career victory for the 7-year-old entire, a 1600m handicap winner here at Jebel Ali a fortnight ago and who has now not finished out of the first three in any of his 11 most recent starts, dating back to the beginning of January 2019.