By Duane Fonseca
Tadhg O’Shea took a mighty leap towards defending his UAE Champion Jockey title when scoring thrice at Al Ain Racecourse Friday evening.
O’Shea won a 10th honour last term and is looking good to make it 11th after his treble helped him pull well clear of his rivals. He was three clear going into the weekend with nine on the board with Pat Dobbs second with six and Dane O’Neill in third place with five, but after scoring at Abu Dhabi Thursday evening and then adding a further three at Al Ain Friday, O’Shea has moved to 13, a score more than twice ahead of Dobbs, who remains on six.
O’Shea’s first at Al Ain was gained aboard the Ernst Oertel-schooled AF Al Motamen, who he expertly guided to victory in the Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners, which got the card underway and was contested as a 2000m handicap which the pair won by a comfortable length and a half to spare from Alsaeid, trained by Ibrahim Al Hadhrami and ridden by Ray Dawson.
His next scalp arrived in the Oud Al Touba 1800m maiden, which he won by two and three quarters of a length aboard Yas Racing’s Majed Al Jahoori schooled Ajrad Athbah who finished ahead of Helal Alalawi’s Abdul Aziz Al Balushi piloted RB Free Bird. He completed his scoring on the back of Jaber Bittar’s Unleashed in the Al Basrah 1600m maiden.
Meanwhile, Ray Dawson saved Valisakos’ best for last and timed his ride to perfection as the pair won the Al Saad 2000m maiden, the only Thoroughbred contest on the Al Ain card for trainer Ahmad bin Harmash
Ibrahim Aseel and Sam Hitchcott combined to win the Falaj Hazza, Sihriella dominating the field to run home a five and a half length winner of the 1600m maiden.
Ernst Oertel secured a double on the card after Marcelino Rodrigues guided AF Muhem home first in the Sieh bin Ammar 1400m maiden, while the action drew to a close with trainer Jean de Roualle and jockey Richard Mullen combining to win the Jebel Hafeet 1400m handicap with Musheer Al Wathba.
