9 March 2019, Houston, Texas, USA ~ In 2018 Eastern Man finished in a dead heat with Quick Sand AA but on Saturday, 9 March, in the 2019 running of the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Amethyst (Grade 1) race at the Sam Houston Racing Park, the 7-year-old was ridden to a superb victory by Ernesto Valdez-Jimenez.
Valdez-Jimenez and Easter Man fought to the front in the straight, battling Jose Garcia and Uptown Sandy Girl in a drive, winning the duel close home in the 1400-metre race organized by the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival in front of a large crowd at the Sam Houston Park racecourse.
Trained by Jerenesto Torrez for owners Joseph and Betty Gillis, Easter Man (Burning Sand x Angel Proof) won in a time of 1:31:97 with Uptown Sandy Girl second and Quick Sand AA under Sasha Risenhoover third in the 11-horse field.
WATHBA STALLIONS CUP
Earlier in the meeting, trainer Torrez and jockey Valdez-Jimenez also took the win in the Festival’s Wathba Stallions Cup, also run over 1400 metres.
Dance With Me (Grilla) romped home under Valdez-Jimenez with Bryan McNeil on Fortaissa in second while Erick McNeil on Last Call MHF finished third. The winning time was 1:36.97.
Ms. Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, General Manager of Wathba Stallions, Chairperson of the International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA), Chairperson of Ladies & Apprentice Racing Committees in the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR) said “It has been an exciting start to the Festival’s activities in the US. Some of the best Purebred Arabians currently racing in the US were in the line-up and we congratulate the winning connections of the winners of both the Sheikh Zayed Cup and the Wathba Stallions Cup.”
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