By Sam Turner -
Abu Dhabi’s Classic seven-race card lived up to its billing on Saturday with a host of thrilling finishes and some superb performances in the saddle from Sandro Paiva and Adrie de Vries.
The duo combined to land five of the seven contests with Brazilian pilot Paiva seen to great effect with a hat-trick of victories, including in the Emirates Fillies Classic with success aboard Howzan Baynounah for trainer Saif Almarar.
Paiva, who instigated his treble courtesy of a well-judged ride from the front aboard the Almarar trainee AF Yatwy in the opening PA (0-95) 1600m handicap, produced a virtually carbon copy ride aboard the lightly raced daughter of Mahabb to land the fillies’ feature by a diminishing half-a-length from Jap Eshraq (Oscar Chavez/Irfan Ellahi) with Marmar Al Wathba (Bernardo Pinheiro/Majed Al Jahoori) back in third.
“I rode her first time out and she was very green and had a bad draw, but she ran well to finish third despite needing the experience,” said Paiva.
“Today, she had a better draw, and she knew more what was required. I’m so grateful for all the support I receive, and it is a pleasure to win prestigious races like this.”
A wide margined success in the closing PA (0-105) 2200m handicap aboard Reem Baynounah completed a fine afternoon’s work for Paiva, Almarar and owners Abu Dhabi Racing as the four-year-old enjoyed the drop in grade to score tidily.
ALARQAA WIN ENSURES NO GREY DAY FOR O’SHEA
Not to be outdone by the fillies, there was a thrilling finish to the conclusion of the Emirates Colts Classic as Champion Jockey-elect Tadgh O’Shea aboard the Ernst Oertel-trained AF Alarqaa clung on for a narrow victory from Tahhan Al Wathba and LZ Bibi.
A short head and a nose separated the winner from runner-up Tahhan Al Wathba (Jules Mobian/Eric Lemartinel) and third-home LZ Bibi (Saif Al Balushi/Saeed Al Shamsi) in a frenetic finish as Oertel’s four-year-old overcame losing a right fore-plate during the race.
“I’m delighted for his owner breeder, Khalifa Al Nabooda, as he puts an awful lot into the game and deserves success like this,” said O’Shea.
“Any of four or five horses could have won at the furlong marker so delighted my fella put his head down and won. Like a lot of the stable’s horses he’s tough and hard fit. The second came to him close home and he pulled out some more.
“The horses are in great health, and I hope they can continue in that form for the last fortnight of the season.”
DE VRIES BIDES HIS TIME
The Simon & Ed Crisford-trained King Of Time gained compensation for a narrow Meydan defeat last time with a smooth success under De Vries in the 1600m Al Khaleej Al Arabi Park (0-95) handicap for Thoroughbreds.
The Dutch rider brought his progressive mount with a withering run down the centre of the track to overhaul Paiva aboard Changing Colours to score by a length-and-a-half, while Monaadah (Pat Cosgrave) was third.
“I rode him last time and he was unlucky not to win as he was done on the line. He has a fair amount of ability and it’s just a case of getting him to relax,” said the winning rider.
“He used to be a little keen in his races, but he travelled beautifully today and is going the right way.”
While King Of Time was a relatively straightforward conveyance, the mercurial RB Bestevah, trained by Helal Alalawi, is anything but.
The five-year-old, a 16-race maiden prior to Saturday, ducked violently left when hitting the front last time, but a masterful De Vries ride saw him smuggled away on the rail and produced late to mug the O’Shea-ridden Sand Storm AA on the line.
“The horse has got plenty of ability, but he’s just a little bit tricky as you saw the other day,” said De Vries.
“We removed the blinkers and, because I know the horse from his last run, I tried to save his effort for the last moment, and it worked out. You don’t want to give him (RB Bestevah) too much time to think or too much daylight and preferably give him as little space as possible!”
Four greys hit the line virtually in unison in the PA (0-75) 1400m handicap, but it was AF Mutaaleq who prevailed in dramatic fashion under Jules Mobian to continue trainer Qaiss Aboud’s fine recent run.
