Maisoor unbeaten in six starts
Tha’er in lead
18 December 2016, Abu Dhabi ~ Omani-based trainer Said Al Badi made his first foray to the UAE a winning one – with the impressive victory of Maisoor in the 1600m Listed Abu Dhabi Championship, the feature on Sunday night, 18 December in the capital.
Unbeaten after five starts in Muscat all on dirt, the Burning Sand colt was guided quickly to the front by jockey, Anas Al Siyabi, stalking the early pace before hitting the front on the home turn. In a matter of strides they were clear to maintain that unbeaten record by a whopping 20 lengths ahead of second, Af Al Sajanjle, in the process proving Maisoor’s effectiveness on turf.
“I would not say we were confident, but certainly hopeful,” said Al Badi. “You never know how good the races he has been winning are. But we think he is a really nice horse and we are absolutely delighted with that performance. It is also a good advert for the strength of racing in Oman. I am not sure where we will go next and we will have to digest this effort but we now have a lot options with an exciting horse.”
The meeting opened with the Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic and, although 16 went to post for the 1400m Prestige contest, in reality very few got involved. As the race unfolded, Richard Mullen looked confident aboard AF Marrah (Al Kesbe), trained by Ernst Oertel for owner, breeder, Khalid Khalifa Al Nabooda.
Losing her maiden tag at the third attempt, it was clearly not a surprise to connections and Mullen said: “She ran very well the first time and we thought she would win on her second start but nothing went right that day. She has had a little break and Ernst and his team deserve a lot of credit as she has really bounced back here and, hopefully, she is a smart filly.”
As a breeder, Al Nabooda completed a quick double with the smooth success of the Musabbeh Al Mheiri-trained AF Monsef (AF Al Buraq)in the following Abu Dhabi Colts Classic, also a 1400m Prestige race.
After having won on debut for Al Nabooda, AF Monsef, purchased by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was third on his subsequent first start for his new owner. Things did not go smoothly on that occasion as winning jockey Dane O’Neill explained: “I rode him on his last start and the race just did not pan out for him, whereas today everything went smoothly. I was pretty confident today throughout as we were always traveling well and I knew that I had plenty of horse under me. When I asked him he responded very well and we think he is a nice colt going forward.”
Tha’er Awards
The Dh 80,000 Wathba Stud Farm Handicap over 1400m was won by Tha’er (Nizam), ridden by Sam Hitchcott for owner/trainer, Saeed Hadher Al Mazrouei. The finish saw a pile-up as TM-AC DC came 2nd by a neck, third by a neck was MH Tawag, and finishing fourth, Al Waqqad, by the same margin.
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan has a formidable team of Purebred Arabians and his colors were carried to victory in the finale, a 1600m maiden, by the Ahmed Al Mehairbi-trained Majdd (Bibi De Carrere) delivered to lead in the final strides by Pat Dobbs, a late replacement for Harry Bentley.
The only Thoroughbred race, a 2400m handicap, went to Satish Seemar with Champion Jockey Tadhg O’Shea registering a comfortable victory aboard Carbon Dating.
~ end