ABU DHABI // The trainer Eric Lemartinel is set for another rich harvest in the third meeting at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club where he saddled a treble last week. The Frenchman is well represented with runners in five of the six races, led by the 2007 UAE Arabian Derby winner Shadiyda, who is being sent on the same path as his stable partner Mizzna, the winner of last year's National Day Cup and the Kahayla Classic.
"Like Mizzna has the National Day Cup and the Kahayla Classic as her primary goals, Shadiyda is similarly aimed at the President's Cup and the Emir's Cup in Doha," said Lemartinel. "This first outing will give us an idea of his well being. He is definitely a stronger horse than last season and Sunday's race should give us a clue." Lemartinel has strong claims with Alama in the opener and Jaifa half hour later, both running for a second run in a fortnight.
"I feel all my entries have a chance to go on and win or finish on the board," said Lemartniel. "I have entered as many as I can because of the two-week break in Abu Dhabi's calendar. Alama and Jaifar will have benefits of an outing and Remal has always run well when fresh." Alama will have most to fear from Anthony Manuel's AF Rakiza, who finished more than a length ahead over the course and distance a fortnight ago. Dhuha W'Rsan and Cashmere are the two others to respect.
Musabah al Muhairi's Jaxy King makes a quick return after running sixth behind Amoking at the Nad Al Sheba dirt on Thursday. If sound and ready for another run in three days, he should have the measure of Muntaliq and Jaifar on the turf. Muhairi also saddles last year's UAE Arabian Derby runner-up Bareq half hour later, and the Bibi De Carrere colt will take a lot of beating in the tricky 0-50 handicap run over 1,600m.
A few seasoned campaigners like Sous Les Ordres, ridden by the Emirati jockey Ahmad Ajtebi, and Fakruddin Nizamuddin's pair Sharudy and CS Patriarch are set to run close. Remal's chances must be respected in the handicap for fillies and mares. She gives weight all-round and will find Jaci Wickham's Dhulaima W'Rsan as the main danger. And Gillian Duffield's Bustan can improve from his first run in more than eight months in the concluding race.
apassela@thenational.ae ABU DHABI CARD 5.00pm DAS ISLAND 1,600m (PA) Rated Conditions (fillies and mares rated 0-50) Dh 45,000 1. 00-2 AF RAKIZA (6y gr m) 58.5 A.Manuel ? A.Nicholls 1 2. 41-4 AL KHAWSSAA W'RSAN (5y b m) 58.5 Jaci Wickham ? R.Mullen 11 3. 42-3 ALAMA (5y ch m) 58.5 E.Lemartinel ? G.Avranche 7 4. 031- AL DHAFIRAH (4y gr f) 57.5 S.Deeb ? D.Badel 3 5. 00-2 HOPE (8y b m) 57.5 I.Ellahi ? M.Phillips 13
6. 40-0 MUSTAWA (7y ch m) 57.5 I.Ellahi ? D.O'Donohoe 6 7. 40-1 RS TASNIM (4y b f) 57.5 J.Bittar ? J.Rosales 5 8. 100- SHAKIRA (5y ch m) 57.5 A.Al Shamsi ? NON-RUNNER 9. 000- AIBRAH (6y gr m) 55 I.Ellahi ? M.Henry 9 10. 00-6 AZWAH (7y ch m) 55 I.Ellahi ? R.Burke 8 11. 33-4 CASHMERE (5y ch m) 55 M.Ramadan ? A.Ajtebi (1.5kgs) 4 12. 00-6 DEVILESS (7y b m) 55 A.Al Shamsi ? D.Smith 14 13. 52-5 DHUHA W'RSAN (4y gr f) 55 Jaci Wickham ? T.Durcan 2
14. 60-0 GHANIA (4y b f) 55 E.Lemartinel ? T.O'Shea 10 5.30pm LULU ISLAND 2,200m (PA) Rated Conditions (0-75) Dh 65,000 1. 60-0 AF KANZ (7y gr g) 55.5 S.Hawaa ? D.Smith 5 2. 205- ELNAAWI (9y b h) 55.5 E.Charpy ? T.O'Shea 6 3. 50-3 JAIFAR (5y ch h) 55.5 E.Lemartinel ? G.Avranche 2 4. 55-6 JAXY KING (6y ch h) 55.5 M.Al Muhairi ? R.Ffrench 3 5. 300- MUNTALIQ (6y gr h) 55.5 Gillian Duffield ? T.Durcan 1
6. 350- AMALIA (8y b m) 53.5 J.Bittar ? J.Rosales 4 6.00pm UMM AL NAR 1,600m (PA) Handicap (0-50) Dh 45,000 1. 52-0 ADEEM (7y gr h) 58.5 M.Kettle ? Salima al Taleei (4.5kgs) 16 2. 223- BAREQ (4y b c) 58.5 M.Al Muhairi ? R.Ffrench 11 3. 600- SOUS LES ORDRES (8y b g) 58.5 M.Ramadan ? A.Ajtebi (1.5kgs) 12 4. 000- CHESSMAN (5y ch h) 58 M.Akram ? F.Jara 15 5. 06-1 CS PATRIARCH (8y ch g) 57.5 F.Nizamuddin ? C.Taylor 6
6. 0-50 GRP MONDIAL GHANTOOT (6y gr h) 57.5 A.Manuel ? A.Nicholls 8 7. 00-0 PONY EXPRES HIPOLYTE (8y ch h) 56.5 M.Gharib ? S.Al Reffai 13 8. 000- SCHEHERAZADE MONLAU (7y ch m) 56.5 K.Aga ? M.O'Callaghan 14 9. 00-0 JAREE (5y ch h) 55.5 Gillian Duffield ? T.Durcan 3 10. 03-0 HABAIB (5y ch m) 55 E.Lemartinel ? G.Avranche 10 11. 45-5 RACHIDIA (4y b f) 55 S.Deeb ? D.O'Donohoe 7 12. 000- AL ABJAR W'RSAN (6y ch g) 54 Jaci Wickham ? R.Mullen 1
13. 13-4 BARAKAT (6y ch h) 54 S.Hawaa ? D.Smith 5 14. 40-1 CAVALRY (5y b h) 54 J.Bittar ? D.Badel 2 15. 00-0 NOUR DE MONLAU (6y ch h) 54 K.Aga ? M.Henry 4 16. 40-2 SHARUDY (6y b h) 54 F.Nizamuddin ? Lisa Jones 9 17. 00-0 PRINCE DE FAUST (5y ch h) 54 M.Kettle ? RESERVE 18. 130- MUNAFIS (6y ch h) 52 J.Bittar ? RESERVE 19. 062- LIWA SPIRIT (9y b h) 52 M.Kettle ? RESERVE 20. 00-0 QADI DU BAC (4y b c) 52 O.Mohammed ? RESERVE
6.30pm HYDRA SILVER CUP 2,200m (PA) Conditions Dh 70,000 1. 111- ABU ALEMARAT (4y ch c) 58.5 R.Simpson ? D.O'Donohoe 1 2. 041- MABRUM (7y gr g) 58.5 Gillian Duffield ? T.Durcan 7 3. 512- SHADIYDA (5y ch h) 56.5 E.Lemartinel ? G.Avranche 5 4. 00-5 BAHER (7y ch h) 54.5 E.Lemartinel ? T.O'Shea 2 5. 02-2 DAYAN (8y b h) 54.5 M.Ramadan ? A.Ajtebi (1.5kgs) 6 6. 20-5 ORDOKI (5y b h) 54.5 J.Bittar ? J.Rosales 8
7. 03-3 ROYAL EPIC (10y b g) 54.5 S.Seemar ? R.Mullen 9 8. 02-6 SAMI LOTOIS (9y b h) 54.5 J.Bittar ? C.Taylor 3 9. 1-33 SILVERRADO (9y b h) 54.5 J.Bittar ? D.Badel 4 7.00pm HYDRA CHALLENGE TROPHY 2,200m (PA) Handicap (0-70) Dh 65,000 1. 030- REMAL (7y ch m) 58.5 E.Lemartinel ? G.Avranche 6 2. 653- AF MUTAMAKENAH (5y ch m) 52 M.Ramadan ? A.Ajtebi (1.5kgs) 4 3. 210- DHULAIMA W'RSAN (6y b m) 52 ? R.Mullen 3
4. 500- GRP MARUDDA GHANTOOT (6y gr m) 52 Jaci Wickham ? W.Buick 1 5. 00-0 GRP ROMA GHANTOOT (5y gr m) 52 B.Al Ketbi ? D.Smith 2 6. 500- LAUOB (7y b m) 52 I.Ellahi ? T.O'Shea 5 7.30pm SWEIHAN 2,200m (PA) Maiden Dh 35,000 1. -5 BARAKA SIDI-IFNI (7y ch g) 58.5 Jaci Wickham ? W.Buick 14 2. 62-5 BUSTAN (4y gr c) 58.5 Gillian Duffield ? R.Mullen 6 3. 6-02 DORFOL DE BRUGERE (6y b g) 58.5 A.Manuel ? A.Nicholls 16
4. - ELWAHEED ANA (4y b g) 58.5 R.Simpson ? Sophie Doyle (3kgs) 4 5. 54-0 EURO GOLD (6y ch m) 58.5 M.Kettle ? Salima al Taleei (4.5kgs) 11 6. 5- CELTIC PEARL (4y gr f) 56.5 M.Kettle ? R.Burke 7 7. -0 DJOUD'OR (6y ch m) 56.5 F.Nizamuddin ? C.Taylor 10 8. -0 DOUMBA DU CAYROU (4y ch f) 56.5 S.Deeb ? D.Smith 2 9. 0-00 KARMEN CS (4y ch f) 56.5 F.Nizamuddin ? Lisa Jones 3 10. -4 LE GUSTA BAILAR (4y gr f) 56.5 R.Simpson ? D.O'Donohoe 15
11. 22-0 ROMANCE DE FAUST (6y b m) 56.5 M.Ramadan ? A.Ajtebi (1.5kgs) 9 12. - SEHR EL GHARAM (4y ch f) 56.5 R.Simpson ? J.McGinn 5 13. 60-0 AL AZM (6y ch g) 55.5 M.Kettle ? C.Avery 12 14. 0-33 HILAL AL EID (4y b c) 55.5 S.Deeb ? R.Ffrench 13 15. - RS INAAM (4y b c) 55.5 J.Bittar ? D.Badel 1 16. -U RS ARRAFA (4y g c) 53.5 A.Al Shamsi ? T.O'Shea 8 17. 30-4 ABYAN II (6y b h) 55.5 M.Akram ? RESERVE
18. 00- LM BIGNAPHL (5y gr h) 58.5 Jaci Wickham ? RESERVE Selections: 5.00pm Alama - AF Rakiza 5.30pm Jaxy King - Muntaliq 6.00pm Bareq - Sous Les Ordres 6.30pm Shadiyda - Mabrum 7.00pm Remal - Dhulaima W'Rsan 7.30pm Bustan - Dorfol De Brugere