Al Hammadi, Al Jahoori steal the show on an all-Arabian Al Ain card

By Duane Fonseca

Al Ain: Abdallah Al Hammadi and Majed Al Jahoori grabbed the spotlight at Al Ain Saturday, with the former claiming a double and the latter winning the nightly feature of a seven race card dedicated to Purebred Arabian racing.

Maaly Al Reef, under Bernardo Pinheiro, completed the double for Al Hammadi when winning the 2000m handicap by a neck after Ottoman’s stunning 10 length victory under Szczepan Mazur in a 1600m maiden. Ibrahim Al Hadhrami and Abdul Aziz Al Balushi partnered to win the opening race on the card, the Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners, a 1600m maiden, with Samau Xmnsor.

There were four maidens in all and Helal Al Alawi and Patrick Cosgrave joined forces to win the one over 1800m with Sharkh. The fourth and final race for maidens was contested over 1000m and won by Ahmed Al Shemaili’s Fabrice Veron ridden Jinjal, who ran in with a dominant two and three fourths of a lengths to spare.

The card closing 1000m handicap was won by AF Sail for trainer Ernst Oertel and rider Tadhg O’Shea.

Yaraa delivering the feature at Al Ain for trainer Majed Al Jahoori and rider Fernando Jara (ERA)

Yaraaa won the feature for Al Jahoori in the hands of Fernando Jara.

Contested over an 1800m trip, the handicap witnessed the 5yo Sarrab mare showed a good turn of foot to challenge Mohammed Ramadan’s Sandro Paiva ridden Mujahid for the lead 200m out. It was a massive performance from both Jara and Yaraa and the pair were a length clear at the finish.

Ottoman (Hammadi/Mazur) (ERA)

Samau Xmnsor (ERA)

Sharkh (Alawi/Cosgrave (ERA)

Jinjal (Shemaili/Veron) (ERA)

AF Sail (Oertel/O'Shea) (ERA)

Maaly Al Reef (Hammadi/BP) ERA

Al Hammadi picked up third with Onward finishing two and a quarter lengths back in the hands of Ryan Curatolo.