Bachalard and Curatolo combine to win Abu Dhabi feature with Boerhan
- Duane Fonseca
- Nov 15, 2020
- 2 min read
By Duane Fonseca
Abu Dhabi: Retained Jebel Ali Racecourse trainer and jockey combine of Nicholas Bachalard and Ryan Curatolo clinched the Sunday night feature at Abu Dhabi with Boerhan, who showed a strong turn of foot to dominate the final stages of the only Thoroughbred contest on the card.
The Rated Conditions event over 1600m saw the 4yo Sea The Stars gelding lengthen his stride under a hardworking Curatolo who kept the urgings going in the saddle until the end. Boerhan tracked the winners turning for home and was way behind Satish Seemar’s Medahim, who carried Antonio Fresu.
But defeat was certainly not an option and with Curatolo pressing hard, Boerhan responded to deliver his rider a third UAE success. It is Frenchman Curatolo’s first season in the UAE and he already seems to be making an impact. It was his second riding for employer in chief and Jebel Ali Racecourse patron His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Bachalard would have savoured a second success in as many dispatches as well after overseeing Shamikh’s success at home on Friday. The French conditioner has saddled four so far this term with all his runners finishing among the money spots, including Sadeedd placing second at Jebel Ali on 30 October.
At Abu Dhabi on Sunday, Boerhan won by a length from Medahim, with Ismail Mohammed’s Wasim placing a head back third with Fabrice Veron up.
Had Fresu won it would have meant back to back wins on the card for the Italian rider, who landed the 1600m Purebred Arabian (PA) handicap that preceded the Thoroughbred affair. He won riding Helal Al Alawi’s RB Dixie Honor, who was a length and three fourths ahead of Majed Al Jahoori’s Fernando Jara ridden Nayrouz. A nose back in third was Nazaa for trainer Mohammed Daggash and rider Bernardo Pinheiro.
A 1400m handicap was run prior to that which was won by Ali Rashid Al Rayhi’s Faiza who managed to hold on and win by a neck under Sandro Paiva. Jawal Al Reef was second for Ahmed Al Mehairbi and rider Pat Cosgrave, while AF Ashras, trained by Ernst Oertel and ridden by Richie Mullen, placed third a further length and a half in arrears.
While that was the action for the second half of the card, three maidens accounted for the first, with Oertel and Tadhg O’Shea scoring in the opening 1200m run with AF Majalis, who won by a commanding five and a quarter lengths.
Ibrahim Al Hadhrami and Szczepan Mazur were the trainer-rider combination to triumph in the second over 1400m with Sawt Assalam, while Foah clinched the other 1400m maiden for Eric Lemartinel and Fabrice Veron.
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