Tadhg O’Shea and Ernst Oertel clinch a treble

Callateral, ridden by Sam Hitchcott, claims victory at the Al Ain Racecourse. — KT photo by Nezar Balout

The connections celebrated the winning of the inaugural running of the Al Ain Mile PA Conditions, the fourth race on the card after Callateral denied the track specialist Bigg N Rich his third course and distance straight victory. In the final race, Forgehill Cezanne got off the mark to beat the mount of Royston Ffrench Raheq by a nose in a nail biting finish after the two went strike for strike in the final furlong of the 3000m PA Marathon, the longest Arabian flat race in the UAE. But, Raheq was relegated to third from the Stewards room. However, the two horses are owned by the two leading stables in the UAE, the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs. And after the slow start, Raheq showed his stamina to hit the front and was always going like a winner after having successfully attacked the leading trio to dominate the scene. At this stage, O’Shea asked his mount to improve and Forgehill Cezanne responded nicely to prevail by a nose on the line.

Meanwhile, the only Thoroughbreds event Al Basra TB Handicap was contested over a mile and won by Ghaamer under Dane O’Neil for trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe in the distinguished blue colours of Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance. Canwinn came with a late run under Homas Brown to take second and the early leader Famous Worrier was relegated to third.

Early in the afternoon, the connections sealed their first winner. Oertel saddled Rb Dixie Burning to land the 1800m Al Hili Purebred Arabians Handicap the second race on the seven-race-card. The first race, the 1400m Al Jimi Purebred Arabians Maiden was easily won by Cercina under the Latin American jockey Carlos Sandoval for trainer Jaber Bittar. Sam Hitchcott teamed up with trainer Michael Kattle to bring Tamoohhome in the 1800m Al Jahili Purebred Arabians Handicap. Dere’A Al Jazeera, ridden by Wayne Smith for Lebanese trainer Saifaldin Deep, emerged the easiest of winners in the 1800m Sieh bin Amaar For Private Owners Only, the fifth race of the 
afternoon.