Ziani guides Vagalame to victory in Abu Dhabi Championship

Gulf Today, Sports Reporter

In what turned out to be a case of third time lucky on Thursday, Vagalame rebounded from two humiliating defeats in his first two starts in the Emirates to deliver a stunning gate-to-wire victory in the Listed Abu Dhabi Championship, the feature event on the final night of racing in the UAE capital this season.

Trained by Salem Bin Ghadayer, the 5yo Lope De Vega gelding did absolutely nothing wrong under Xavier Ziani, who took him to the front and stayed there comfortably as the battle for the minor spots continued behind him when leading the field of 14 into the straight.

Keffaaf, one of Michael Costa’s two dispatches, appeared to threaten in the closing stages of the 2200m contest, but Vagalame had ensured there would be no late heartbreak as he held on gamely to win by a neck and claim his career’s biggest prize. A further length and a half behind in third was Franz Kafka for trainer Ahmad bin Harmash and Sam Hitchcott.

The race was one of two Thoroughbred events on the card and Costa missing out narrowly on victory meant the Australian ceded the advantage in the UAE Trainers’ Championship to Bhupat Seemar, who scored in the other, the Mussafah Bridge handicap over 1400m, to go one clear with his 37th winner.

The contest for horses rated between 0-70 witnessed recent Dubai World Cup winning trainer-jockey combination of Seemar and his first choice rider at Zabeel Stables Tadhg O’Shea seize victory after a bold ride from the latter kept Fall Of Rome in a prominent position all along.

Where’s The Wayya set the pace along the rail with Classic City to his outside, but making the turn for home, Royston Ffrench sneaked the Bin Ghadayer-trained Benzema along the rail and hit the front. The race wasn’t done yet as O’Shea bounced, pulled and used up every trick known by riders to edge forward on the line. Benzema was a nose behind in second, with Ironside a further short head back in third for Qaiss Aboud and Bernardo Pinheiro, who would later win the PA Group 3 Arabian Triple Crown R3 with Tariq, trained by Majed Al Jahoori for Yas Racing.

In a ride similar to that produced by Ziani aboard Vagalame, Pinheiro led his 4yo AF Albahar partner to the front after the break and was past every post first. Pinheiro teased his rivals by allowing them to close in rounding the turn for home, but set his mount into top gear as soon as he straightened up and went full rev all the way to the finish to win by three and a half lengths from Ibrahim Al Hadhrami’s Singasong Al Maury, the ride of O’Shea. A head back in third was Ahmed Al Balushi’s second-leg winner RB Yas Man, who was again ridden by Amur Al Rasbi.

The final evening of racing at Abu Dhabi got underway with Mohammed Al Mahrooqi’s Namoor using the Sheikh Khalifa Bridge 1600m maiden to cross over to the winners side and achieving success by five and a quarter lengths with aplomb on his racecourse debut. Norax D’Arca was second for the Al Jahoori-Pinheiro combination, with Alshaheen a further four and a half adrift for Dennis O’Brien and Hitchcott.

Bringing up the first part of a double for Yas Racing, Eric Lemartinel’s Maanar only just managed to hold on to success in the Sheikh Zayed Bridge 0-90 handicap for fillies and mares under Jules Mobian, as Mohammed Daggash’s RB Lock And Load closed in strongly under Saif Al Balushi to find herself a shorthead in arrears on the line. Jaber Bittar’s Unlimited was a further length and a half back in third under Adrie de Vries.

Ahmed Al Mehairbi’s Al Laith claimed a fourth win for the season when clinching the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Gold Cup, a 1600m PA Prestige run, under Hitchcott, where the pair denied Ernst Oertel’s AF Maqam, O’Shea up, by a short head. A further two and three quarters behind in third was Bassam Al Wathba for Al Jahoori and Pinheiro.

Oertel was not to be denied in the Wathba Stallions Cup 0-85 handicap for UAE bred horses, the South African gaining a 25th winner for the season after apprentice Marcelino Rodrigues flew past the finish first aboard AF Ghayyar, a tidy two and three quarters of a length victor over AF Nafith (Aboud/Pinheiro). In a 1-3 for Oertel, AF Layth finished a further length and a half back in third under De Vries.