A SEVEN-RACE card on the dirt at Jebel Ali on Saturday afternoon saw seven different trainers and jockeys visit the winners’ enclosure. The most valuable race on the card, which included six races for thoroughbreds, was a seven-furlong handicap.

Victory went to the Irish-bred five-year-old Chosen Mark who responded to the urgings of Antonio Fresu over the final two furlongs. The pair hit the front with a furlong to go, with at least half of the eight runners holding realistic chances, but the son of The Last Lion was not to be denied

Bred by R & R Bloodstock, the gelding is trained by Ahmed Al Shemaili and races in the silks of Shoaib Ahmed Sarfaraz. The winner were scoring over the course and distance for the second time this year. Fresu said: “The trainer had him in top form, and he was very tough when I needed him to be. He seems to save his very best for Jebel Ali, and the seven furlongs here really suits him.”

Willing

Royston Ffrench found he had a very willing partner in the shape of the US-bred Razeem Dubai in the six furlong handicap, the pair never headed for trainer Salem bin Ghadayer and owner Saeed Sultan Al Rahooni. The four-year-old Frosted colt made a winning debut, under Ffrench, over five furlongs at Jebel Ali in November 2021, but was winless in nine subsequent outings.

The winner outfought Major Cinnamon, the eventual third, for much of the last two and a half furlongs, and just had enough in the tank to hold the late lunge of Rayig, probably an unlucky loser under Tadhg O’Shea having missed the break. Ffrench said: “He has really stuck his neck out and fought for that. It’s nice to see him back to winning ways, and hopefully he can build on this now he has put his head back in front.”

Bottom weight

A mile handicap went to Coast Sky, taking full advantage of the weight he was receiving from his seven rivals. The six-year-old Newsells Park Stud-bred son of Kodiac took the lead inside the final furlong, Pat Dobbs timing his challenge perfectly for Doug Watson and Sky Racing. This was the gelding’s second win in three starts this season.

Jean Van Overmeire and Waathiq, previously a maiden after seven starts, made every post a winning one in the concluding near 10-furlong handicap for racecourse patron Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and his principal trainer, Michael Costa. The six-year-old son of Tapiture had four and a half lengths to spare over Gliding Bay.

The three-year-old Accelerate colt Talentum looked most unlikely to make it third time lucky in the six-furlong maiden for three-year-olds, but devoured the ground over the final furlong and a half, the steepest part of the incline, to snatch victory right on the line under Tadhg O’Shea, riding in the colours of John Walter Moraes for Bhupat Seemar.

Belated debut

In the silks of the Bouresly Racing Syndicate, and with Oscar Chavez in the saddle for Rashed Bouresly, the Godolphin-bred six-year-old Al Khaldie made a belated winning debut in a six-furlong maiden. A Shamardal half-brother to the classy Heavy Metal, he overcame clear signs of inexperience in the first half of the contest before flying home over the final half a furlong to win going away.

The opening seven-furlong maiden, the only purebred Arabian race on the card and restricted to runners foaled in the UAE, was won in good style by Basem Al Wathba, never far off the pace under Bernardo Pinheiro, the pair asserting in the final half a furlong.

Saddled by Majed Al Jahoori for Al Wathba Racing, the four-year-old colt was having just his second start.

O’Shea doubles

up in the capital

TADHG O’Shea’s lead in the jockey’s title race remained at 10 after he rode a double on Thursday at Abu Dhabi. His nearest challenger, Antonio Fresu also doubled up on the card.

Just one of the six races was for thoroughbreds, and it took a late surge from O’Shea on the six-year-old Lake Causeway to snatch victory from State Event and the Fresu-partnered Green Team Station. In fact, the latter looked to have the race won with two furlongs to race, only to be passed by two runners in the dying stages.

Trained by Bhupat Seemar, five wins behind Doug Watson in the trainer’s race, the six-year-old winner, a gelded son of Creative Cause, was winning for the first time on his twenty-first start. He had previously amassed 10 placed efforts. This was a second win in five days for owner John Walter Moraes