Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,000mm, Winners: Mumayaza, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m, Winners: Sharkh, Pat Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: The President’s Cup Prep - Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Harrab, Ryan Curatolo, Jean de Roualle
7pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Gold Cup - Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
8pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner: Nibras Passion, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ismail Mohammed
Three-time UAE champion trainer Ernst Oertel has set the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 for Purebred Arabians as his target for AF Alwajel after a resounding win in the Group 3 Al Ruwais at Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Another top-notch local bred horse to come out of Emirati businessman Khalid Al Naboodah’s breeding programme, the six-year-old son of AF Al Buraq under Tadhg O’Shea came home five and-a-quarter lengths clear of Rawaa with Antonio Fresu in the saddle.
“I wasn’t to come here but take him to the Al Maktoum Challenge,” Oertel said.
“I didn’t prepare him well for that and we thought to bring him here and run him next in the Maktoum Challenge Round 3.”
AF Alwajel, who has now won six races and finished either second or third in five occasions from his 12 career starts, hasn’t raced beyond the 1,600-metre distance.
“This horse has the right mentality and I feel he can handle the 2,000m trip [in the Round-3] and this [1,400m] is the shortest he wants to go, but sometimes it’s a good gallop to get his speed up,” Oertel added.
Jean de Roualle’s Somoud in the silks of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed’s Yas Racing stayed on track for a narrow win over BF Mughader in the President’s Cup Prep race.
Richard Mullen produced Somoud with a familiar late challenge to take up the running 100m from the finishing line and just held on to victory from the fast finishing BF Mughader under O’Shea by a short head.
“The race probably didn’t go to plan,” Mullen said. “My fella needs an out-and-out gallop up front and unfortunately it hasn’t been happening. I just had to be patient and just try to get out and get going earlier than I wanted to.
“I committed early and I could see someone coming down my neck. Nevertheless, he’s a smart horse and had to give weight all round for the success tonight. I know Jean has the President’s Cup in mind.”
De Roualle added: “There was no pace tonight and that’s not the kind of race for Somoud. If there was good pace, he could have relaxed and gather his turn of foot.
“I’m also careful about treating the prep race, as a prep race. I told Richie not to hit him too much. If he wins he wins, if he was beaten, not a problem. He still won and now we are looking forward for the big race.”
De Roualle celebrated his second win on the night when Curatolo brought home Harrab half hour later, also in the silks of Yas Racing.
Abdallah Al Hammadi’s Hameem under Adrie de Vries took the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club Gold Cup to stretch winning streak to four from four.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,000mm, Winners: Mumayaza, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m, Winners: Sharkh, Pat Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: The President’s Cup Prep - Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Harrab, Ryan Curatolo, Jean de Roualle
7pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Gold Cup - Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
8pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner: Nibras Passion, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ismail Mohammed
