Quality line-up for Emirates Championship

Ed Marnane

A full field of 14 will run in the Emirates Championship at Abu Dhabi on Thursday, the Group 1 highlight of a competitive seven-race card.

This season’s renewal has attracted a quality field, with eight Arabians boasting an official rating above 110 in the 2200m event.

Last year’s winner Ajrad Athbah, trained by Majed Al Jahoori for Yas Racing, is the highest rated runner in the field, off a mark of 120 and comes here in good shape looking to defend his crown. He chased home the impressive winner Rb Kingmaker in the HH The President Cup, Group 1, over the same course and distance, last month.

Ajrad Athbah, the mount of Brazilian rider Bernardo Pinheiro who is chasing a third successive win in the race, sets the standard and will take plenty of beating.

Trainer Dennis O’Brien has enjoyed a terrific campaign in his first season with a licence in the Emirates, saddling 14 winners from 88 runners. Based in Abu Dhabi, he runs Mujeeb and Rb Yas Sir, with preference for the former. The seven-year-old, to be ridden by Richard Mullen, is winless since landing the Group 1 HH The President Cup at the track 13 months ago. Mujeeb, not seen since finishing a good third in listed company at Abu Dhabi earlier in the year, makes plenty of appeal, as he looks to give Mullen another major success in the UAE capital.

UAE champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea, now six clear of his nearest rival Connor Beasley at the top of the table, rides course specialist Hameem for trainer Abdallah Al Hammadi. The seven-year-old makes a quick return to action after finishing a never-nearer sixth in the Mazrat Al Ruwayah at Meydan six days ago. He will be suited by the step back up to 2200m and is one to consider at decent odds in a competitive renewal.

Race 5, a 1400m handicap and the only thoroughbred race on the programme, is a trappy contest with decent recent form thin on the ground. Trainer Julio Olascoaga is represented by Eye On The Prize, a gelding that has been running well in defeat competitive handicaps at the Dubai Racing Carnival at Meydan. Six days ago, he kept on in the closing stages to finish a creditable fifth behind the enterprisingly ridden Poster Paint in a 16-runner handicap, beaten less than three lengths.

The performance deserves to be upgraded having endured a wide trip and this looks a good opportunity for the Argentinian-bred four-year-old to open his UAE account.

Musabbeh Al Mheiri saddles four runners and has booked Tadhg O’Shea to ride the lightly raced Eruptive, who is making his handicap debut on his first start on turf. Owned by Nasir Askar, who won the Group 2 Maktoum Classic with Dubai World Cup bound Military Law, he has shown promise in three runs and was narrowly beaten at Jebel Ali last month. Being by Kitten’s Joy, a top US turf sire, he should improve switching to grass and an opening handicap mark of 74 looks fair. He’s very unexposed and is nicely drawn, a bonus in a race that has attracted a maximum field of 16.

Racing gets under way with a 1600m maiden and South African trainer Ernst Oertel saddles a three-strong team, all owned by his biggest patron, Khalid Khalifa Al Nabooda.

It has been a challenging season for Oertel, his horses were out of sorts earlier in the campaign but he has been among the winners recently and his team are in good heart now.

Af Bareeq, the choice of Tadhg O’Shea, showed improved form when third here last month, enjoying a switch to maiden company having been running in handicaps. In an open-looking race, he is a major player looking to shed his maiden tag at the 13^th time of asking.

Lightly raced Hm Jazi, beaten a neck at the track last week, heads the list of dangers, along with the consistent Munir, who wasn’t beaten far last month.

Elsewhere on the card, Oertel and O’Shea combine with lightly raced Af Alfahem in the 1600m handicap, Race 3.

The five-year-old, one of six runners representing the South African trainer, returns after a 12-month absence and it looks significant O’Shea has elected to ride the UAE-bred Arabian, despite obvious fitness concerns. Af Alfahem created a good impression on his second start last season, winning a 16-runner maiden at Abu Dhabi. He wasn’t disgraced on his handicap debut next time, finishing a close sixth. He’s very unexposed and is fancied to defy a lengthy layoff.

Race 4, the 1600m handicap for fillies and mares, is a competitive race and four of the 15 runners are last-start winners. Nahla Al Wathba, who is making her Abu Dhabi debut, gets the vote for Al Ain-based French trainer Jean-Claude Pecout. She’s lightly raced and has won two of her four races, all on dirt. She showed a sharp turn of foot when scoring at Al Ain and remains open to plenty of improvement given her low-mileage profile.

Of the rest, Unlimited, trained by Jaber Bittar, warrants respect based on her recent win over the track. The step back in distance shouldn’t hinder his chances and she doesn’t look badly treated off a revised mark of 78.

SELECTIONS’

Race 1

1 AF BAREEQ 11 MUNIR 10 HM JAZI 8 ES HADID

Race 2

4 MAKIN 8 HAWAFEZ 13 JAP YRDAKH 6 MURAQIB

Race 3

10 AF ALFAHEM 3 AF KAL NOOR 13 MEEQAT 14 ES BADOUR

Race 4

1 NAHLA AL WATHBA 3 UNLIMITED 2 RAWAAT AL REEF 8 AF THARWATY

Race 5

7 EYE ON THE PRIZE 12 ERUPTIVE 9 ALHEZABR 2 ASWAN

Race 6

4 WINDS OF FORTUNE 2 AF ALZAHI 1 AF ALSAREM 3 ALSAEID

Race 7

1 AJRAD ATHBAH 9 MUJEEB 12 RB YAS SIR 5 HEROS DE LAGARDE

Best Bet: 7 Eye On The Prize [Race 5]

Best Value: 4 Winds Of Fortune [Race 6]

Best Swinger: 1 Ajrad Athbah and 9 Mujeeb [Race 7]

Jackpot

[Races 4-7]

R48

Leg 1: 1, 2, 3

Leg 2: 7, 12

Leg 3: 1, 2, 3, 4

Leg 4: 1, 9