Vongtaveelap grabs lead as Natalii impresses again at WAAP
Ater wining the opening 1200m maiden, the only Purebred Arabian race on the card and restricted to 3yos foaled in the UAE, O’shea produced a flawless performance aboard Remorse to feature the 1600m handicap sponsored by Shadwell
Tadhg O’shea rode Remorse to victory in the feature 1600m handicap during the second Jebel Ali fixture of the new season, a seven-race card, on Friday as fans returned to the racecourse for the first time since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Around 7,000 fans flocked to the Jebel Ali Racecourse, which is renowned among crowds for its ‘garden party’ atmosphere.
The meeting was graced by Sheikh Maktoum Bin Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who was welcomed by Engineer Shareef Al Halawani, manager Jebel Ali Racecourse.
Speaking to Gulf Today, Halawani said: “We are very happy with the return of fans to the racecourse. It’s like the spirit of Jebel Ali is back.
“The crowd back in the stands make the races more exciting. We greatly missed our fans in the past season. Hope Emirates Racing Authority allows us to accommodate more fans for the upcoming races. Increasing the capacity of fans solely depends on the decision of ERA.
Meanwhile, Tadhg O’shea had not moved a muscle on Remorse but Royston Ffrench was able to galvanise Tenbury Wells who fought back, forcing O’shea to get serious with his mount.
Both jockeys found willing partners with Remorse always seemingly just doing enough in front to land the spoils for Satish Seemar and Al Rashid Stables.
A 4yo Dubawi gelding, he was posting a third career victory and second from just four starts for current connections.
A winner once for Godolphin and Andre Fabre in France, he also won a 2000m Meydan dirt handicap on the middle of three UAE outings for
Seemar last season.
A lesser 1600m handicap followed, contested by a capacity field of 14 but very few were ever actively involved with Pat Dobbs trying to make every post a winning one on Torno Subito, stalked throughout by Final Rock.
The later, under Adrie de Vries, was able to take over with less than 150m remaining, the pair pulling away to win comfortably for Rashed Bouresly and the Bouresly Racing Syndicate.
The first juvenile race of the new UAE season, a 1200m maiden for 2yo fillies, was won in tidy fashion by Litle Afrodite, a first UAE winner for promising young jockey Ray Dawson, riding in the colours of Abdullah Menahi for Ahmad Bin Harmash, his main employer locally.
One of the fastest, Dawson was content to bide his time in about third as firstly Dilmunia and then Shadzadi cut out the early running. With about 200m remaining, Dawson asked his filly for a challenge and she responded well, quickening to the front and pulling clear.
A daughter of Shackleford, she was purchased at Ocala as recently as June for $50,000 and made a very pleasing start to her career.
A tardy start was not enough to thwart Law Of Nature in a 1400m maiden for 3yos, the gelded son of Siyouni soon in contention under Omani jockey Al Moatasem Al Balushi, riding for his main local employer, Helal Alalawi, in the colours of Rashid Al Shehhi and Tawfiq Mohd.
Thrice raced in late 2020 for Godolphin by Charlie Appleby when a close sixth on the Kempton all-weather was his best effort, he made his stable debut in a 1600m Jebel Ali maiden a fortnight ago, finishing a well beaten third of five runners.
That Jebel Ali experience, race fitness gained and probably the 200m shorter trip all appear to have worked the oracle as this was a relatively smooth success.
Seven went to post for a 1000m maiden but six may as well have stayed at home with Royal Appointment storming clear once he hit the front passing the 400m marker.
Confidently ridden by Pat Dobbs for Doug Watson, Mohd Khalifa Al Basti’s 4yo Povotal gelding was a promising third on his UAE bow in February, over this 1000m course and distance but disappointed a month later stepped up to 1200m here at Jebel Ali.
The opening 1200m maiden, the only Purebred Arabian race on the card and restricted to 3yos foaled in the UAE, like so many races of its ilk, was won by a Khalid Khalifa Al Nabooda homebred, partnered by the owner’s retained jockey, O’shea and saddled by Ernst Oertel.
They combined with AF Maqam, a colt having just his second career start and building on his debut fith over 1000m at Sharjah just 13 days earlier.
Never far off the pace, O’shea, initiating his double, grabbed the lead about halfway and the pair always looked to have maters under control thereater.
ABU DHABI: Thailand’s Nathakrita Vongtaveelap stormed to a three-shot lead ater the third round of the Women’s Amateur Asia-pacific ( WAAP) Championship following a sensational birdieeagle finish on Friday, as Uae-based Natalii Gupta moved up the leaderboard to T16 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club’s National course.
Vongtaveelap was caught by Mizuki Hashimoto (68) at one stage when the Japanese player holed a 30-feet birdie put on the 16th hole. But the 19-year-old hit a perfect tee shot and short iron to two feet for birdie on 17, before she rolled in an eagle put from just four feet for a five-underpar 67 and 15-under, ahead of Hashimoto (-12) and Australia’s Kelsey Bennet who made three straight birdies from six and ten straight pars for a 69 to sit at -11.
“I am so happy and excited about the finish. It was perfect. The last seven shots were exactly how I wanted to hit them,” said Vongtaveelap, who, remarkably, has 19 wins and eight runner-up finishes in domestic events.
“I’ve come here thinking I want to win the championship. So this is a good way to go into the final round. But I know I need to play well as there are many good players in the field.”
Indian youngster Gupta, a nominated player of the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) and the only local to make the cut, closed out with three straight birdies, and her second straight three-under-par 69 round moved her to T16 at four-under-par 212.
The 17-year-old, born and brought up in the UAE, said: “It’s prety cool. I’ve never had people watch me before and for them to be supporting me this week, it’s just wonderful.
“I could have started beter, but it was a good finish. I got to make some birdies towards the end. I was struggling with the puter a bit on the front. Then I just trusted my stroke towards the end and that got me going.”
The WAAP was developed by The R&A and APGC to unearth emerging talent and provide a pathway for Asia’s elite women amateurs to the international stage.
Princess Nourah atends finale the Aramco Team in Jeddah: Princess Nourah Bint Mohammed Al Faisal on Thursday visited Royal Greens golf and Country Club in Jeddah to see for herself the progress golf Saudi is making in terms of growing participation in female sport in the Kingdom.
During her first visit to a golf club, Princess Nourah experienced a golf clinic with two golf Saudi coaches, whilst watching her cousin Prince Khalid Al Faisal play in the event as an amateur.
Picking up a golf club for the first time, Princess Nourah was impressed and excited by golf Saudi’s Mass Participation programme and what it meant for the future.
Princess Nourah is an internationally recognised designer and entrepreneur with nearly two decades of industry experience.