Doubles in order as Kirrane shows promise

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Doubles in order as Kirrane shows promise
Speedy Move ridden by jockey Sean Kirrane pulls out from the pack in the Emirates NBD Private Banking race at Meydan. - Photo by Neeraj Murali

Dubai - Irish jockey Kirrane won his third race over two days when he guided Seemar's Speedy Move to a fine victory in the Emirates NBD Private Banking, a Handicap run over six furlongs.

By James Jose

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Published: Sat 1 Feb 2020, 10:14 PM

Last updated: Sun 2 Feb 2020, 12:17 AM

Doubles were in order at the 13th horse race meeting at the Meydan Racecourse with trainers Satish Seemar and Fawzi Nass, and jockey Adrie de Vries conjuring twin wins, while apprentice jockey Sean Kirrane showed tremendous promise.
Bahraini handler Nass, who had won a Group 1 race with his very first horse when Krypton Factor clinched the Dubai Golden Shaheen at the Meydan in 2012, saddled Lacienegaboulevard and Al Mukhtar Star to victories in the opening two races on Saturday.
Lacienegeboulevard and Al Mukhtar Star, the rides of de Vries, won the Emirates NBD Personal Banking Maiden and the Emirates NBD Business Banking Maiden respectively, for their maiden wins.
Meanwhile, Irishman Kirrane won his third race over two days when he guided Seemar's Speedy Move to a fine victory in the Emirates NBD Private Banking, a Handicap run over six furlongs.
And in the final race of the evening, Seemar saddled Dolmen to a win in the Emirates NBD Asset Management Handicap. Kirrane, who arrived in the UAE in November, had won two races at the Al Ain Racecourse on Friday night - the Wathba Stallions Cup, a Purebred Arabian Handicap, on Af Ramz, and then followed that up by piloting Jayide Al Boraq to a win in the Falaj Hazza Handicap, another Purebred Arabian contest.
The 20-year-old, who has raced in his native Ireland and England before coming here, now has four wins so far.
With the double, Seemar increased his lead to 28 victories in the UAE Trainers' Championship.
Lacienegeboulevard, the four-year-old from Shanghai Bobby, won the dirt contest, run over seven furlongs, by a length over Seemar's Enchanting Man.
Leadership, Seemar's other entry, and the ride of stable jockey Richard Mullen, was third, fourth lengths behind Tadhg O'Shea's Enchanting Man.
Three-year-colt Al Mukhtar Star, the three-year-old colt from Lemon Drop Kid, warded off the threat from Varsha and Colour Image to triumph in the eight-furlong affair. Al Mukhtar Star won by half length over Varsha in the race run on turf.
"Like we said, I wasn't too concerned about the drop back in trip. I think it suits him," de Vries said of Lacienegeboulevard, who cut back in distance to from 2,000 metres to 1,400 metres.
"He ran a good race, first time of a nine furlong. We didn't do much in between but he seemed in good form and he did it in a nice way," he added.
De Vries was also pleased with how Lacienegeboulevard ran. "I didn't go for everything, to be honest. I could reach the lead without giving him a slap. Then, I just had to give him a few to pass the horse. He did it pretty nicely," said the Dutchman, who had clinched a treble in Sakhir, Bahrain, on Friday.
Nass had clinched two wins in Bahrain, both with de Vries.
"That has been a great start to the afternoon and they are both nice horses who we thought had good chances," Nass said of Lacienegeboulevard and Al Mukhtar Star. "Adrie has ridden both perfectly and we would like to think there is more to come from them both," added the Bahraini.
Meanwhile, Emirati handler Salem bin Ghadayer saddled Gundogdu to victory in the Emirates NBD Priority Banking Handicap over 2,000m, while Moqarrar, trained by Erwan Charpy, won the Emirates NBD Wholesale Banking Handicap on dirt.
james@khaleejtimes.com
 


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