By Duane Fonseca
Sunday’s domestic card turned out to be trainer Fawzi Nass’ most successful of the season so far as he and his first choice rider Adrie de Vries took the plaudits with a treble that comprised three of the first four events on an eight-race programme that got underway on a sun-drenched afternoon and finished under the glare of the spotlights at Dubai’s marquee racing venue.
After Bernardo Pinheiro battled hard to win the card-opening Emirates Skywards 1600m maiden on dirt getting Ahmed Al Shemaili’s Great Deed in front on the line to steal success off from Salem bin Ghadayer’s Made in Dubai, with Mickael Barzalona up, Nass and De Vries ran roughshod through the next three, steamrolling their way forward with big margin wins.
First, Shake Hand won the Emirates Holidays 1400m maiden for 3yos, also on dirt, coming from the rear to win by four lengths from Habooba (Ahmad bin Harmash-Ray Dawson), then Sharar raced picked up the lead 300m from the finish to win the emirates.com 1800m turf handicap by finishing with four to spare from Rashed Bouresly’s Capla Crusader, the ride of Francois Herholdt. Nass-De Vries completed their scoring in the Emirates Airline 1900m Conditions run on dirt for 3yos, where Go Soldier Go justified his favourites tag by coasting to a five and a half length success ahead of Musabbeh Al Mheiri’s Oasis Moon after snatching the lead off him 250m out.
Ahmad bin Harmash and Gabriele Malune won the first of three co-feature events, the Arabian Adventures 1600m handicap on turf with First Winter, for whom the finish came in time after he came under immense pressure from Julio Olascoaga’s fast-finishing El Patriota, the ride of Jose da Silva. A neck back in third was Aeonian for Al Mheiri and Fresu.
Red Stables trainer-jockey pair of Doug Watson and his first choice rider Pat Dobbs took the next big money event, the Emirates Airline 1900m handicap with Sari Dubai, who made it two in two starts on turf after progressing through the ranks to take up the running 300m from home. Nass’s Kanood fought hard to finish second under De Vries, only just relegating Watson-trained Saqqara King (Oscar Chavez up) to third by a neck.
Chavez was rewarded in the third big money event, the Emirates SkyCargo 1200m sprint handicap on turf, that was run subsequently and which he won aboard Bouresly’s Miqyaas, who passed every post first and finished two and a half clear of Elise Jeanne’s Harvest Gold a runner-up for the third time in four starts over course and distance this term. Madkhal was a further three fourths back in third for Nass and De Vries.
Watson and Dobbs scored for the second time in the closing Emirates Airline 1800m handicap on turf where Exciting Days, racing for the first time in the fluorescent green silks of the Al Bait Mutawahed Team, seized the initiative one-third into the race and held on comfortably to finish three quarters ahead of Bin Harmash’s Light Beam, the ride of Dawson.
