By Duane Fonseca -
For a change, Thoroughbred racing will take centrestage at Sharjah Equestrian and Racing Club when the field goes to post for the HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup (4pm), which is the feature event on Sunday’s six-race programme.
A Conditions affair, the 1700m contest has attracted a number of serious milers, who have performed well in more competitive conditions at Meydan Racecourse. And among the top hopes in the field is likely to be Ajuste Fiscal (Jose da Silva), a recent winner for in-form trainer Julio Olascoaga.
The seven-year-old Ioya Bigtime gelding has never ventured outside of Dubai during this time in the UAE and marks his racecourse debut here. And with Da Silva returning
to take the ride he should be as potent as he was when winning over 1900m at Meydan a month ago.
Thereafter sixth behind stablemate Atletico El Culano, who Da Silva preferred over him, Ajuste Fiscal has plenty of big match experience to make this his.
Another top prospect is five-year-old Street Boss entire, Street Mood (Bernardo Pinheiro), trained by Musabbeh Al Mheiri. A three time winner on the mile strip at Meydan, Street Mood is race ready having had three starts already this season.
And while he might have shown a bit of ring rustiness this campaign, there is sufficient proof to suggest his best is yet to come and this drop in class should be right up his alley as he steps in alongside Bhupat Seemar’s Southern Artist (Tadhg O'Shea) who has won his only start this term and moreover at this level where he beat the progressive Tiger Nation by a half length in a mile contest at Meydan. A four-year-old Munnings gelding, Southern Artist is two in three career starts and has a 1400m win in a maiden at Jebel Ali to further boost his claims.
Seemar also dispatches Laasudood (Jim Crowley), winner of a 1400m affair for Shadwell at Meydan in December, who showed he has the stamina for longer when finishing two lengths adrift in a lofty Meydan handicap on a prior start.Salem bin Ghadayer-trained Forest Falcon (Royston Ffrench) should be very much in it having shown improvement over his first two starts when initially taking 10th behind Ajuste Fiscal and then finishing fifth in a race won by Wessall in his backyard last week.
The rest of the card is dedicated to Purebred Arabians and comprises a pair of maidens, over 1700m and 2000m, targeting four-year and older UAE Bred horses, while a handicap (0-65) is another that will be run over the 2000m strip.
The highlight on the Purebred Arabian side of things is a 1700m handicap (0-75) for runners aged four and above in which Ernst Oertel-trained six-year-old AF Albahar mare AF Mathakeel makes her racecourse debut having shed her maiden tag in a 1400m run at Jebel Ali two starts ago. Thereafter second in a handicap on turf at Abu Dhabi, she might be the one to beat despite Jaber Bittar’s Zammam looking strong too having recently claimed a first-ever career success over the 2000m strip here.
Randa was fourth 12 months ago when representing Salem Al Ketbi’s yard, but since transferring to the care of Dennis O’Brien, the five-year-old Abu Alemarat mare has been successful in a 1400m event at Abu Dhabi.
Oertel and Irfan Ellahi have a strong hands in the 1200m 0-70 handicap for UAE Bred horses aged four and above where AF Al Ahkaf and JAP Al Afreet stand out for the pair respectively having a brace of sprint wins each to boost their reputations.
