Easy win for Al Ghabra

The five-year-old Amer daughter sealed her fifth straight victory to take her career record to five wins, a second, a third and a fourth from eight starts at varying distances and tracks at the Abu Dhabi truf, Jebel Ali dirt and Meydan All-Weather surfaces.

Top weight Das Jalabi finished close second under Wayne Smith and behind these came the mount of Ted Durcan, Rafed. Always Emirates defied the heavy weight under Wayne Smith to win the Meydan “Prime” Thoroughbreds Handicap second race on the card.

The seven-year-old son of Danzig who made his mark on seasonal debut over a longer distance at the same track, disappointed on reappearance last weekend when finished poor eighth to Emirates Sports.

The race was a two-horse race which turned into a head to head battle against bottom weight AB Include under Royston Ffrench. Both horses broke well and Always Emirates raced against the fences while AB Include was right on his heels from the centre of the track. The two horses went strike for strike before Always Emirates did the better as the opponents crossed the finish line.

Champion trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe saddled the mount of Ahmed Ajtebi, Game Stalker, to win the third race Meydan Golf Course Handicap, a 1600m contest in great style. And as the commentator Terry Spargo put it, the national jockey Ahmed Ajtebi won for the local trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe in the sliks of the national owner Shaikh Mansour bin Mohammed Al Maktoum on the anniversary of the National Day.

Al Raihe’s reply to the defeat of AB Include from the Musabah Al Muhairi-trained Always Emirates came from quickly when his horse beat Tayeb by a short-head on the line to deny his brother in law Musabah Al Muhairi a quick double. However, trainer Musabah Al Muhairi completed a double in the fourth race when leading Irish jockey Wayne Smith partnered Maath Gool to glory in the Meydan ‘Shiba’ fourth race of the night. Dahes broke well and left the machines very quickly to lead the race under Royston Ffrench, but the Azamour colt went out of gas to give way in the concluding stages of the race. Maath Gool lodged his claim with less than 200 metres to go and came from the outside to land the trophy in fashionable style.

RESULTS

Race One: 6.35pm Purebred Arabians Handicap 1600 (a 8f) Meydan Business Park sponsored by Meydan. Purse: Dh50.000.

1. AF Al Ghabra (Gillian Duffield) Tadhg O’Shea 2. Das Jalabi (Bakhit Al Ketbi) Wayne Smith . Rafed (Eric Lemartinel) Ted Durcan Time: 1.26.25 Margins: 0.75L/ 0.5L

Race Two: 7.15pm Thoroughbreds Handicap 1200 (a 6f) Meydan “Prime” sponsored by Meydan. Purse: Dh70.000.

1. Always Emirates (Musabah Al Muhairi) Wayne Smith 2. AB Include (Ali Rashid Al Raihe) Royston Ffrench . Dubai Set (Doug Watson) Patrick Dobbs Time: 1.13.42 Margins: NK/ 1.25L

Race Three 7.50pm Thoroughbreds Handicap 1600 (a 8f) Meydan Golf Course sponsored by Meydan. Purse: Dh70.000.

1. Game Stalker (Ali Rashid Al Raihe) Ahmed Ajtebi 2. Tayeb (Musabah Al Muhairi) Wayne Smith 2. Street Act (Ali Rashid Al Raihe) Royston Ffrench .

Time: 1.40.10

Margins: SHD/ NK

Race Four 8.25pm Thoroughbreds Maiden 1400 (a 8f) Meydan “Shiba” sponsored by Meydan. Purse: Dh50.000.

1. Maath Gool (Musabah Al Muhairi) Wayne Smith 2. Prime Preacher (Stephane Chevalier) Ted Durcan 3. High Comedy ((Mubarak bin Shafya) Patrick Cosgrave Time: 1.40.10 Margins: 3.25L/ NK