Oasis Cannes, Kalino, Assy, Al Naksh win Derby Trial races

By Chris Hoover/Doha

Umm Qarn’s Kalino gave its trainer Alban de Mieulle a much awaited victory in the Pure Arabian Derby Trial for four-year-olds. Kalino came good under the able riding of Italian saddle artist Pier Convertino, who rode a well judged race on the winner. Racing behind, La Hoor, Concertino urged Kalino for a final effort and the Mieulle trainee respon ded immediately and surged past the formidable La Hoor in the shadow of the winning post.

Julian Smart trained Assy plunged into an all out offensive in the final furlong and launched his fiery gallop to outrun his rivals and score a smashing victory in the local bred Pure Arabian Derby Trial for four-year olds.

Mazzouz made the early pace with Kassam in chase. Kassam took it up into the homestretch but was soon joined by owner mate Assy. The Smart trainee  flew past to register an easy victory, leaving Kassam and Maazouz to fight for the minor places.

Hassan Ali Hassan al-Matwi’s Al Naksh (Dormane-Karina) proved much too fast for his 10 opponents in Pure Arabia Derby Trial for three-year olds. Al Naksh came up with a brilliant stretch run and went away from the pack to win as he pleased.

The seven furlong race for Derby aspirants saw Hasheem and Jak El Elm shoot out of the starting gates and set a good pace in front of Al Naksh and Abhar. Marco Monteriso held Al Naksh on a tight leash till the bend and ensured that he was never far behind the front runners. With most of the runners traveling well within themselves at that stage, it was difficult to say who was moving better than the other. Hasheem was the first to fade away from the scene. With Al Naksh making his presence felt with a smooth run on the outside,  the winner was sighted a long way from home. Al Naksh thrived under Monteriso’s guidance and powered home to a glorious victory.

Rashid al-Jehani saddled Moaddie won the local Thoroughbred Derby Trial with a lively final surge, to notch up a commanding victory.  Moaddie was out quickly and settled to chase leader Aseer who set off at a good pace. Once into the straight, Aseer stubbornly held fort, but was under constant threat coming from the progressing Yanis Aouabed ridden Moaddie. Mustabseel was right there, but could not step it up and made little impact in the race.

Moaddie produced a sizzling final finish to surge ahead and away from the opposition and win without encountering any worthy challenge. In the final fifty, he was all by himself and won well.

In one of the most thrilling finishes seen in recent times, the Pure Arabian Handicap, witnessed a three-horse blanket finish and the judge was unable to separate the three. Al Yarmouk, Al Majd and Tameh were declared joint winners.

Al Yarmouk (Marvin Suerland up) set out on a start to finish and very nearly pulled it off. Al Majd (Stephane Ladjadj astride) and Tameh (Mark Lawson up) came along to challenge the leader. The trio went past the finishing post locked together much to the delight of the spectators.

Ghazali saddled Substantiate (Gerald Avranche up) sprung to life to dish out his maiden victory in the Thoroughbred Maiden Plate. Dahab Gold with Qatari jockey Yousef al-Hajri in the saddle, had accumulated a sizable lead in the straight which came to a naught when Substantiate produced his best to come from a long way back to scorch the turf in the last 150 meters or so. King Oliver, tried hard to make a race of it, but he too had no answer to the Ghazali trainee’s tremendous acceleration.  solid throttle. Maqamaat made little impact but improved towards the finish to finish third.

Hamad bin Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Attiya owned Al Hakma trained by Mohammed Hamad al-Attiya scored a facile victory in the hands of Dubai based jockey Harry Bentley to shake off his maiden status in the local Thoroughbred Maiden Plate. Al Hakma settled in the fifth position as Angel and Jeem set the pace for the mile trip.

On entering the homestretch, it was Al Hakma all the way as Bentley stylishly brought him into the straight and kept him on tight reins. Jeem who was in chase, had nothing exception to offer and was not gaining anything to impress the leader. Ghaya made slight headway along the rails, while Al Zubara was seen covering ground from the outside. Al Zubara did pick up momentum, but he was no threat as Al Hakma didn’t let his guard down and marched on majestically to score an impressive victory to earn his winning bracket on his own terms.

Results:

1st race: Al Hakma (Harry Bentley) 1, Al Zubara 2, Ghaya 3, Haidara 4. Won by: 5, 1, ¾. Time: 1:40.36. Trained by: Mohammed Hamad al-Attiya. Owned by: Hamad bin Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Attiya

2nd race: Substantiate (Gerald Avranche) 1, King Oliver 2, Maqamaat 3, Al Injaaz 4. Won by: 3, 1 ¼, Hd. Time: 1:12.17. Trained by: Jassim al-Ghazali. Owned by: Jassim Mohammed Al Ghazali and Sons

3rd race: Tameh (Mark Lawson) 1, Al Yarmouk 2, AL Majd 3, Al Azuur 4. Won by: Deadheta, Deadheat, Hd. Time: 2:05.55. Trained by: Ibrahim al-Malki. Owned by: Saeed Ibrahim Saeed al-Malki

4th race: Moaddie (Yanis Aouabed) 1, Aseer 2, Mustabseel 3, Venus 4. Won by: 5, 4, Distance. Time: 1:38.58. Trained by: Rashid al-Jehani al-Malki. Owned by: Ahmed Hassan al-Malki al-Jehani

5th race: Al Naksh (Marco Monteriso) 1, Al Safi 2, Abhar 3, Majd Al Uraiq 4. Won by: 1 ½, Hd, 1. Time: 1:31.57. Owned and trained by: Hassan Ali Hassan al-Matwi

6th race: Assy (Richard Mullen) 1, Kassam 2, Maazouz 3, Zelzal 4. Won by: 3 ½, 1, 3 ½. Time: 2:09.48. Trained by: Julian Smart. Owned by: Al Shahania Stud

7th race: Kalino (Pier Convertino) 1, La Hoor 2, Al Atique 3, Harir 4. Won by: 1, ½, 2 ½. Time: 2:02.07. Trained by: Alban de Mieulle. Owned by: Umm Qarn

8th race: Oasis Cannes (Stephane Ladjadj) 1, Momalorka 2, Seamless 3, Mu Tazz 4. Won by: 1, Nk, 1 ¼. Time: 1:53.32. Trained by: Jassim al-Ghazali. Owned by: Sheikh Hamad bin Mishal bin Hamad al-Thani