Still Life wins Sheikh Hamdan Cup in grand style

sharjah — Racing at Sharjah on Saturday afternoon was highlighted by the only Thoroughbred race on the card, the Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup, a 1,700m handicap won comfortably by Still Life.

Previously a maiden after nine starts, he had one start in Ireland for Godolphin and Mick Halford before joining Ali Rashid Al Rayhi, for whom he had finished third on three occasions. That is including his most recent outing over this course and distance three weeks ago.

With stable jockey Tadhg O’Shea suspended, Silvestre de Sousa had been booked for the ride but he missed the meeting and was replaced by Jim Crowley who settled his mount, always travelling well, in third. Swinging for home, Crowley asked for a challenge and they soon hit the front quickening away and ultimately winning comfortably.

Crowley who rode Ertijaal for the trainer and Sheikh Hamdan after whom this race is named, to win the 1,000m turf handicap on Thursday’s opening night of the 2018 Dubai World Cup Carnival at Meydan said: “These are the spare rides we jockeys like. To be fair, the team seemed quite confident beforehand and I was always happy in the race. The surface and distance have both suited him and, now he has a win, he can perhaps build on this.”

The best of the Purebred Arabian action was also a 2,000m handicap won relatively cosily by AF Abahe, homebred by Champion Owner Khalid Khalifa Al Nabooda and trained by Ernst Oertel. It was a second career win for the horse after a 1,600m Al Ain maiden victory on his penultimate start.

Ridden confidently by Antonio Fresu, he made smooth progress to track the leaders leaving the far straight and was ridden to lead exiting the final turn, after which they never looked likely to be caught.

The maximum field of 16 may have gone to post for the opening 1,200m maiden but virtually from the outset only one horse was involved; smartly away under Sam Hitchcott, ES Ajeeb went straight to the front, pulled clear at halfway and won by a staggering 19 lengths!

Trained by Ibrahim Aseel and having just his second career start, after finishing well beaten in seventh, over the same course and distance on debut in November, he had clearly learned plenty from that racecourse experience.