Trainer Lands Colts and Fillies Features
21 December 2014, Abu Dhabi ~ Jaber Bittar was the trainer of the evening 21 December at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club as he saddled Nawarat Al Reef (Bibi De Carrere (FR) x NOMARCHIE (FR) by Djelfor) to win the Abu Dhabi Fillies’ Classic and 30 minutes later, Meftah Al Reef (Bibi De Carrere (FR) x MAFFIA (FR) by Dormane) landed the Abu Dhabi Colts’ Classic, both over a mile.
Jesus Rosales was in the saddle on Nawarat Al Reef, making only her second racecourse appearance after a promising third on her debut over 1000m on the Sharjah dirt. Seeming to struggle early on in a field of 13, they rallied to lead close home to the delight of Rosales.
“She made a very good debut over a trip probably too short, said Rosales. “She has more than coped with these different circumstances and, hopefully, is a filly with a bright future.”
Just 30 minutes later trainer Bittar was celebrating a second Classic winner after Meftah Al Reef and Wayne Smith claimed the Abu Dhabi Colts’ Classic in a field of 14. Never far off the early pace, Smith went for home early in the straight and the pair never looked likely to be caught.
“This is always a good yard to ride for,” said Smith. “They have plenty of nice horses so you always know you have a chance. This fellow had already won on dirt at Sharjah so is clearly versatile.”
The official feature, the Group 3 Abu Dhabi Championship, like both Classics over 1600m, was won by AS Enjaz (Munjiz (FR) x AS MYSALOON (AE) by Bibi De Carrere), ridden by Silvestre De Sousa for his main employer, Musabah Al Muhairi. The pair were never in doubt for the win De Sousa said: “The plan was always to be positive and it worked well.
Elsewhere, Sam Hitchcott won the 1600m maiden for Bakhit Al Ketbi aboard Barek W’Rsan (Drug (RU) x PRINCE TIKI (US) by Monarch AH (US) breaking a Maiden, with the W’rsan entry, Silk Stockings, coming in 2nd for trainer, Jaci Wickham.
In the Wathba Farm Cup for Private Owners, held as part of the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, Eric Lemartinel combined with Gerald Avranche to land the 1200m handicap with Ain Jaloot (Amer x SHOAGH by Dormane) in the time of 1:19:34.
Winning jockey Avranche was delighted and said, “My horse has started from the wide draw No. 10, but he settled well after the home turn and produced high speed when I urged him for that extra effort in the final two furlongs.”
French handler Lemartinel added, “He’s a big, honest horse who has seldom run a bad race. He has finished in the money in seven of his nine starts including this race which marked his second career win.”
The five-year-old son of Amer is bred and owned by Mansour Al Yaqoub at the Al Yaqoub Arabians Farm Stud.
“The Wathba Stud Farm Cup races became a legitimate target for all owners thanks to the strong support of HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the festival. We have now enough races for our horses and that’s great,” the winning owner said.
The only Thoroughbred race on the card, a 1400m handicap, went to Royal Revival, a first winner of the season for apprentice, Marc Monaghan, riding for his boss, Satish Seemar.
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