Bouresly’s Ajwad lands meeting feature, Watson secures treble at Saturday’s Racing at Meydan

The 1800 metre handicap on turf looked to be wide-open for any of the 14 runners in the starting line-up but Ajwad stole away under a brilliant front-running ride from Bernardo Pinheiro.

The pair led from start to finish to win by two and half lengths for the second time in his last four starts, Kaannoon coming in second a length ahead of Valcartier in third.

Speaking afterwards, Pinheiro said: “It is always a pleasure to ride for these connections. The trainer was very confident and gave me perfect instructions, so I was not surprised he won so well. He had given the horse a month off and knew he was in great form at home.”

Bouresly added: “This is a very nice horse who has a lot of natural speed, but also stays well. He has won at Jebel Ali, but is mainly a turf horse and we hope he has the ability to be a Dubai World Cup Carnival horse for next year.”

Saturday’s seven race card also saw a trio of winners for trainer Doug Watson which began in the opener, the Mina Rashid Marina Maiden.

Here it was Midnight Sands who was a comfortable four length winner with Pat Dobbs aboard for Doug Watson and The Cool Silk Partnership who were celebrating their first UAE winner with the first horse they have campaigned locally.

Second on his first start for Watson, the 3-year-old colt hit the front with 300 metres remaining and eased to success with Shanaghai City in second and Jaarim in third a further two lengths back.

Watson made it a double in third race, the Hamdan bin Mohammed Cruise Terminal, a 2200 metre dirt handicap which was won by Mizbah in determined fashion.

Driven to lead shortly after the stalls opened by Royston Ffrench, the 10-year-old stayed there to win by three and a half lengths from Jintshi in second and Illusional in third,

Having been beaten in three previous outings this campaign, all last year, the success marked a winning return from a 64-day break to record his sixth UAE success.

Watson then secured his treble for the meeting in the Jafza, a 2000 metre handicap on the dirt thanks to Dehbashi although it looked as if Grand Argentier would complete a carbon copy double for owner and trainer with Adrie de Vries.

Grand Argentier immediately grabbed the initiative and appearing the likely winner turning for home. However, Dobbs was making smooth progress in behind on stable companion Dehbashi, who wore down then held off a resurgence from his friendly rival to win by a head.

Owned by Mohd Khalifa Al Basti, the six-year-old made it five UAE victories, all under Dobbs at Meydan, but the first since beating Grand Argentier in March last year.

The Mina Hamriya, a 1400 metre handicap om the dirt, produced a thrilling finish with Gervais, who had led from the outset under Fernado Jara, denied right on the line by Iftitah and Tadhg O’Shea

The two jockeys were clearly unsure who had prevailed as they flashed past the winning post, but the verdict went to Iftitah, trained by Satish Seemar for Nasir Askar, who made it three wins from his last four starts.

The owner completed a double with dirt debutant George Villiers in the 1600 metre Mina Rashid handicap, combining this time with Satish Seemar and Richard Mullen,

The success denied Watson, Dobbs and EERC another success with Pillar of Society who led from the outset before headed about 150 metres out.

The finale, the Jebel Ali Port, a 1200m turf handicap, was won in fine style by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Raafid, who simply outran all in the final 400 metres. The 6-year-old, ridden by Dane O’Neill, trained by Ali Rashid Al Rayhi, coming in a length and a half clear of Ejbaar in second and Way Of Wisdom in third.

All eyes now go forward to next Saturday (9 March) and the Dubai World Cup Carnival’s Super Saturday extravaganza at Meydan.