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By Duane Fonseca -
Jebel Ali Racecourse’s penultimate meeting of the 2023/24 campaign marked a triumphant return for the ‘home team’, who won three of the six Thoroughbred contests on Friday’s seven-race programme.
Ben Coen rode each of the Michael Costa trained winners at the ‘hill’ on an afternoon where the latter needed to do himself a favour as he bids for a first-ever UAE Trainers’ Championship in only his second year of training in the country.
With the hat-trick, Costa took his tally to 33 and is six-clear of Bhupat Seemar, who struck at Abu Dhabi Thursday to reduce the deficit to three as the pair went into the four-meeting weekend separated by four with Costa leading 30-26 from both Seemar, who was joint-second until Thursday with Musabbeh Al Mheiri.
Costa’s treble included one of the co-feature events of the programme, the Al Nayefat Stakes sponsored by Tattersalls, a Conditions event run over a 1400m trip for three-year-old fillies, which was won by Lahfaty, who jumped from the inside gate and was switched right to left by Coen round the back of the field. Producing her standside, Lahfaty, beaten nine-and-a-quarter lengths in the Cocoa Beach Stakes by subsequent Group 3 UAE Oaks heroine Manama Gold, changed gears easily to extend fully and hit the front and kick clear. She might have idled towards the end but Coen might not sweat as she had done enough to win by a neck with Seemar’s fast-closing Le Faucon Maltais a neck behind under champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea. Awesome Spirit Gal was a further length behind for Doug Watson and Pat Dobbs.
Costa and Coen had only a half-hour earlier won the Bin Dasmal Group Stakes, a 1400m maiden, in style with six-year-old Malibu gelding Saayedd, who found success on his first-ever career start when scoring by seven-and-a-quarter lengths from Theeban, second for Ahmad bin Harmash and Connor Beasley.
The hosts were denied three-straight wins by the in-form trainer-jockey combination of Fawzi Nass and veteran Adrie de Vries, who got on the scoresheet after Military Artist landed the other feature event of the afternoon, the Al Nawayef Stakes sponsored by Keeneland, a corresponding 1400m conditions event for three-year-old colts and geldings. A winner already at Meydan this season, the Munnings colt challenged Al Mheiri-schooled Shuf Dubai (Bernardo Pinheiro) as the pair kicked clear of the rest in the final 100m and gained the ascendancy on the line to win by a short head.
The Costa-Coen treble was complete in the penultimate Umm Suqeim Stakes sponsored by Shadwell (1950m, 0-100), Alhzeem digging deep to find that little bit extra needed stick his neck ahead on the line when the race looked as if it had been won for Salem bin Ghadayer and Xavier Ziani by In Crowd.
While Coen signed off with a double, apprentice Marcelino Rodrigues enjoyed a double. The Brazilian won the card-opening Wathba Stallions Cup sponsored by HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Racing Festival, a 0-85 handicap over 1800m with Ernst Oertel’s AF Kal Noor holding on by a nose from Mohammed Al Mahrooqi’s fast-closing Ghali Al Athman, the ride of Omani apprentice Qais Al Busaidi, and followed up immediately, winning the first of the Thoroughbred events, the Emirates Airline Cup, a 0-95 handicap over 1200m, aboard Ismail Mohammed’s Never Just A Dream, who ran on strongly after hitting the front 400m out to win by a length and three quarters from Watson-trained Al Tariq (Dobbs).
Racing concluded with the 1600m Commercial Bank of Dubai Cup, a 0-75 handicap, that witnessed Rashed Bouresly-trained rank outsider Capla Crusader find traction at the half-way mark and run home strong for a half-length success ahead of Fall Of Rome (Seemar/O’Shea).
