By Duane Fonseca -
Daramethos rebounded to winning ways on the final day of racing at Jebel Ali Racecourse on Saturday by spectacularly defending his Jebel Ali Stakes.
Trained by Musabbeh Al Mheiri and ridden by Oscar Chavez, the six-year-old Sea The Stars gelding had dominated the field during the 2023 edition and won by a massive three-and-a-half length margin from Lost Eden. And, though the margin of victory was a far tighter on this occasion, Al Mheiri and Daramethos’ owner Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Humaid Al Nuaimi would not have mind him coming home a mere three quarters of a length ahead of Bhupat Seemar’s King Ottoman, the ride of Pat Cosgrave.
The 1950m Listed event was the feature of a seven-race that got underway with Jaber Bittar enjoying success in the 1200m Wathba Stallions Cup 0-90 handicap, where Najih scored by a length from AF Marmuq (Ernst Oertel/Tadhg O’Shea) having snatched the lead with a late effort under Qais Al Busaidi.
The feature Jebel Ali Stakes had been pencilled in at sixth and it was Okbah Aashour’s Quip that set a furious pace under Bernardo Pinheiro, with Salem bin Ghadayer’s Book Review (Jose Santiago) running in his shadow.
The pair held sway until the 800m marker, but were running on fumes thereafter as the pack closed in. Chavez had ridden Daramethos in sixth along the rail and made full use of his position to hit the front at the 600m pole. He kicked clear and quickly put at least three lengths between him and the rest, with King Ottoman and Cosgrave the only ones seemingly capable of mounting a challenge in the final 200m only managing to reduce the deficit to three quarters of a length. Seemar took in a 2-3 as favourite Franz Strauss (O’Shea) finished a further two-and-a-half lengths back in third.
The first of the Thoroughbred events, the 1000m Sukoon Takaluf Stakes 0-100 handicap (3yos), was won by Marwan Al Baidhaei’s Major Cinnamon, who collected a second success for the season powering home under Gabriele Malune to deny Elusive Terry (Seemar/O’Shea) from stretching his unbeaten record to three as he found himself a half length behind at the post.
Seemar might have missed out, but Jebel Ali resident trainer Michael Costa, the leader in the UAE Trainers’ Championship, made sure to double up his slender one-win advantage. That the Australian did in the Jebel Ali Distaff, a 1400m Conditions run for three-year-old fillies, with Lahfaty, a comfortable two length victor under Ben Coen. The pair gained the ascendancy from Morjanah 300m out and looked tired putting the race to bed, but found that extra bit needed to hold off Kibo Misaki (Bin Ghadayer/Royston Ffrench) by two lengths.
A corresponding event for colts and geldings, the Al Wasl Classic witnessed UAE Jockeys’ Championship hopeful Connor Beasley edge closer to leaderboard topper O’Shea with victory aboard Ahmad bin Harmash’s Rasas, who made full use of his weight allowance to thwart Julio Olascoaga’s South American bred Quartier (Jose da Silva) by three quarters of a length.
The Jebel Ali Classic, another 1400 Conditions run, saw Doug Watson and Pat Dobbs combine with Al Tariq, who stole in ahead of Costa-trained Yonafis (Coen) in the shadows of the post to win by a short head.
Racing concluded with the Commercial Bank of Dubai Cup, a 0-95 handicap over 1600m, which saw Olascoaga claim a seventh winner for the season with a seventh different horse: El Patriota (Da Silva) obliging with a sweeping finish to deny Arabian Tale (Seemar/O’Shea) by a half length.
