DUBAI NOV 10 - AL RAIHE'S FLYING START TO THE NEW SEASON

By Dubai Racing Club | Thursday, November 10, 2011

Ali Rashid Al Raihe already has two UAE Trainers Championships to his credit and with his start to the UAE season so far and his Meydan opening night performance, the he may well be on his way to a third title.

The Thursday, November 10 opening night racing programme at Meydan racecourse belonged to Al Raihe as he won four of the night’s six races - including the two featured handicaps.

Rochdale, who was a winner over 1900m on the equivalent card last year, landed the main race, the 2000m handicap, under stable jockey Royston Ffrench.

"This horse relishes this Tapeta track and is versatile with regards to trip. He runs well fresh. We were definitely hoping for a big run from him and he certainly did not disappoint," commented Ffrench who had earlier won the 1600m handicap on stable companion Il Grande Maurizio, before completing his own treble in the concluding 1900m handicap on Zain Shamardal.

"Obviously that has been a great night for the whole team,” said Ffrench at the end of the meeting.

“Il Grande Maurizio ran very well in the early part of last season and is another one who goes well fresh. I thought he would run a good race.

“Zain Shamardal is a really nice recruit this season. He is only a three-year-old and does not have many miles on the clock. The trip really suited him and it was a great end to a brilliant night."

Tadhg O'Shea was in the saddle on the Al Raihe yard’s fourth winner, Alazeyab in the 1200m handicap.

O'Shea said: "He is a good horse and hopefully will improve from that run, though he is a chunky individual who carries a fair bit of condition. The gaps appeared when I needed them and he has taken me through them."

While Al Raihe dominated proceedings by taking out the last four races on the card fellow trainer Satish Seemar and jockey Richard Mullen enjoyed their fair share of success when combining to win the first two races at the meeting.

The duo collected back-to-back wins with Kingdom Beauty taking the Emirates Sky Cargo Maiden held over 1200m, followed by Skycruiser win in the Wolgan Valley a 1400m handicap event.

Mullen said: "We took our time with her last year and she has really strengthened up over the summer. The runner-up opened up a useful lead at the top of the straight, but I was always hopeful of getting to him."

Skycruiser's victory in the following 1400m handicap was a bit easier.

Seemar said: "This horse deserved that as he always runs a solid race and it is nice to see him get his head in front. Richard has ridden him perfectly and that is a good start to both tonight and the season as we also had a winner at Jebel Ali on Friday. Kingdom Beauty is a nice filly and hopefully can build on that win."

All six races were for Thoroughbreds over the All-Weather.

*Al Raihe’s back-to-back titles included a record of 28-24-28 for firsts, seconds and thirds respectively from 239 starters during the 2009-2010 season, followed by a statistic of 30-30-23 from 333 runners as he tied for the championship with fellow Emirati Musabah Al Muhairi during the 2010-2011 UAE racing season.

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