O'Shea sparkles; Watson, Seemar clinch doubles

Dubai - O'Shea clocked up his 504th win with Satish Seemar's Speedy Move

Tadhg O'Shea is looking forward to catching up with Richard Hills and taking him up on his dinner offer after joining the Englishman in elite company.
The six-time UAE Champion Jockey thought he had overtaken Hills' record of wins to become the most successful jockey of all-time in the UAE. But there seemed to be some confusion about the mark being 503 or 504 wins.
O'Shea clocked up his 504th win with Satish Seemar's Speedy Move in the CNN Health Handicap in the 20th race meeting at the Meydan Racecourse on Thursday night. And despite the bewilderment about the record, it doesn't take anything away from the Irishman.
"It is fantastic to equal the record and Richard Hills had promised to buy me dinner so we had a bit of a laugh today when he called me and I said I still have one to go so now thankfully it is equal. So looking forward to Hillsy coming out next week and taking him up on that offer," said O'Shea.
The 37-year-old was proud of what he achieved but said he would reflect on it in the summer.
"You wouldn't be human unless you don't look back but I'd like to keep the revs up and the momentum going. Winter is my busiest time so we have a long summer to reflect. The main thing is stay in one piece and stay out of the stewards room and stay healthy and hopefully there's plenty more to come," he added.
Meanwhile, UAE Champion Trainer Doug Watson and Satish Seemar clinched doubles on the night.
Watson, a six-time winner of the Trainers' Championship, saddled back-to-back winners in Lytham St Annes and Thegreatcollection, the latter triumphant in the feature race of Thursday night.
After Patrick Dobbs rode Lytham St Annes to victory in the CNN Business Handicap over six furlongs, Sam Hitchcott piloted Thegreatcollection to the winning line in the CNN Travel Handicap over eight furlongs.
Seemar sent out Welford and Speedy Move to victories in then CNN Arabic Handicap and the CNN Health Handicap respectively.
Mazeed, the mount of O'Shea broke well from stall seven, while Welford, bought in the Racing Dubai Sale, had stayed in touch with the pack.
Grand Argentier held the led for most part of the 11-furlong contest but as they approached the bend with 500 metres to go, he had Welford in his shadows. It was an intense tussle to the finish and Welford prevailed in the end for his fourth winner in 23 starts.
And winning trainer Seemar was quite pleased that he fared well in the step up in trip.
"We were quite positive about him and it is a great result," said Seemar.
"He has been knocking on the door for a while and today we had a good strategy out of the stalls. Richie (Richard Mullen) did a wonderful job and he dominated the race," he added.
Meanwhile, Mullen said he tried to keep in touch with the leading pack. "We were chasing the race and I was trying to stay close enough. I wanted to keep him up there. When he takes you there, you go with him. The break is coming good and he ran well," Mullen said.
Earlier, O'Shea had missed out in the opening race, finishing second in the CNN Style Maiden. O'Shea, astride the Seemar-trained Zalmi Star, was 6.5 lengths behind Blockchain.
Blockchain, the four-year-old colt from Dubawi, couldn't have asked for a better debut, with Adrie de Vries guiding him to a fantastic victory for trainer Fawzi Nass.
Meanwhile, Spirit Of Scotland, trained by Rashed Bouresly and ridden by Dane O'Neill, pipped Seemar's Heraldic, to win the CNN International Commercial Handicap. Spirit Of Scotland, also bought in the Racing Dubai Sale, won by half a length over Heraldic, for his second victory in 10 starts.