Remorse passes first test en route to Dubai World Cup

Championship-winning Seemar and O'Shea team up to win feature at Meydan's final race meeting of 2022

By Team KT

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Remorse, the mount of champion jockey Tadhg O'Shea, wins The Entisar, the feature race, at the Meydan Racecourse on Friday. (ERA)
Remorse, the mount of champion jockey Tadhg O'Shea, wins The Entisar, the feature race, at the Meydan Racecourse on Friday. (ERA)

Published: Fri 23 Dec 2022, 10:51 PM

The Championship winning team of Bhupat Seemar and Tadhg O’Shea combined to win the feature race on Meydan’s concluding race meeting of 2022, when Remorse landed the Listed The Entisar.

Run over the same 2000m distance as the $12million Dubai World Cup, the contest was totally dominated by the five-year-old son of Dubawi who was sixth behind Country Grammar in the showpiece race earlier in March.


O’Shea denied big-race jockey James Doyle aboard stablemate Bendoog.

After landing a 1600m Jebel Ali handicap on his seasonal debut last November, Seemar’s charge did not win again but was runner-up in the Group 3 Jebel Ali Mile and Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge R3 over this 2000m.


No prizes for guessing by Remorse is set to have another crack at the Dubai World Cup next year.

“That was a perfect return and I rode him as if he was the best horse in the race and the small field probably helped him. He was getting tired late on as you would expect but his class has seen him through,” said O’Shea.

The fixture also included the first four Meydan turf races of the new campaign including the opening race on the card, a 1200m maiden and Adrie de Vries, who has few peers on the Meydan grass, made every post a winning one aboard Abshrek for Rashed Bouresly and the Bouresly Racing Syndicate, the 5yo Oasis Dream gelding making it third time lucky.

Well beaten on debut, over 1400m at Jebel Ali at the end of October, he then showed a lot more promise when third, over 1200m, here on the Meydan dirt.

“This horse has a lot of natural speed and has improved with each start. The ground seemed pretty quick and he has really enjoyed it,” said De Vries.

The first turf handicap of the Meydan season, over 1800m, provided Mickael Barzalona the perfect opportunity to open his account for the season, at just the second attempt, combining with Salem bin Ghadayer to land the spoils aboard gallant veteran Untold Secret, the 10yo competing on grass for the first time since January 2017.

“He has always been a nice horse and one I used to ride in France for Andre Fabre. He has enjoyed himself this evening,” said Barzalona.

Connections were soon celebrating a double after the following UAE 1000 Guineas Trial, a 1400m dirt conditions race for 2yo fillies.

Mimi Kakushi was a smooth winner, with the City Of Light filly shedding her maiden tag at the third attempt having finished fourth, over 1200m then this 1400m, on her first two attempts.

Barzalona, riding his 100th UAE winner, said: “She has needed the experience in the past and she did that nicely. The extra 200m in the UAE 1000 Guineas will be a bonus but the 1950m and UAE Oaks will really suit her.”

A 2410m turf handicap was an absolute thriller, the lead changing hands on numerous occasions over the final 200m with Sam Hitchcott and Al Nayyir, the pair last of ten runners entering the straight, flying home over the final 175m to snatch what had appeared a most unlikely victory for Doug Watson and Elbashir Salem Elhrari.

“I just did the steering but all fairness to the horse as we were in trouble in traffic a couple of times. He basically saved the day for both of us,” Hitchcott said.

A turf condition race over 2000m, the Nad Al Sheba Classic went to Electrical Storm, a first winner of the season for Godolphin and Saeed bin Suroor, Pat Cosgrave partnering the homebred 5to Dubawi gelding to a smooth success.

“He has always worked like a nice horse but has, perhaps, been a bit disappointing in the past. That is as far as he wants to go and he would cope with a drop in trip,” Cosgrave said.

Fourteen 2yos contested the finale, a 1600m juvenile maiden and Watson completed a double, Pat Dobbs and debutant Shirl’s Bee, a Bee Jersey colt homebred by Charles Fipke, winning relatively comfortably.


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