The opening round of the Arabian Triple Crown is the official feature as Abu Dhabi race for the first time in 2013 this Sunday evening.
A maximum field of 14 has been declared for the 1600m feature which carries Listed status.
A race restricted to four-year-olds, it looks a tricky puzzle for Pick Six players to solve with the weights headed by the Jaber Bittar-trained Monawer, the mount of Pat Cosgrave and penalised after their win in the Colts’ Classic a fortnight ago.
Cosgrave said: “He was impressive last time and is hopefully still improving after only four starts.”
Magik Du Paon, to be ridden by Wayne Smith for trainer Eric Lemartinel, is also penalised for winning the Listed Abu Dhabi Championship on the same card as Monawer’s latest victory. Smith said: “That was a nice win last time and perhaps a bit of a surprise as he was losing his maiden tag in the process. Hopefully he can build on that.”
A third penalised runner from that evening is Shayel Aldhabi who won the Fillies’ Classic. All three wins were achieved over the same 1600m course and distance as Sunday’s feature.
Trained by Ernst Oertel for HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, it looks significant that stable jockey Tadhg O’Shea partners Shayel Aldhabi from four runners representing the same connections.
O’Shea explained: “She has won both her local starts and was impressive last time in a decent race so it would have been hard to desert her. She will go well but this is her toughest challenge to date.”
The main support race is undoubtedly HH The President Of The UAE Cup prep, over 2200m, and again, the maximum 14 are set to face the starter including Nieshan, last year’s winner of HH The President’s Cup itself.
He is trained by Eric Lemartinel but faces no easy task with the opposition headed by the 2011 HH The President’s Cup and Kahayla Classic winner Seraphin Du Paon. Throw in last year’s Group 1 Emirates Championship winner Versac PY and it looks a quality race.
The only Thoroughbred race on the card is a 2200m handicap with the weights headed by Kal Barg, trained by Dhruba Selvaratnam and to be ridden by James Doyle. The pair were a close third over course and distance on their penultimate start and a repeat of that would see them go close.
One of the more interesting runners has to be local debutant Jawhar who arrives in the UAE having won his last three starts in the UK when trained by William Haggas. Owned by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, he has now joined Doug Watson and will be ridden by the owner’s retained jockey Paul Hanagan who said: “I won on him three times in England and am really looking forward to getting back on him.
“He used to be far too keen but responded well to the hood. It would be nice to think he can progress into a Dubai World Cup Carnival horse.”
Stable companion Dr Faustus, the mount of Pat Dobbs, is another to consider in an open race.
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