Etijaah highlights Meydan season opener
RACING returned to Meydan overnight where Etijaah won the Emirates Airline Handicap for champion UAE owner HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who won three races on the night.
Etijaah took out the Emirates Airline Handicap for the second consecutive year in fine style as jockey Dane O’Neill stalked the speed which was set by Zain Eagle and Handsome Man, before taking over quickly in the straight to score.
Trainer Doug Watson is hoping to get Etijaah to a race during the Dubai World Cup Carnival in March next year.
“We thought we had him as straight as we could for this first run back,” Watson said. “We know he goes well fresh so we came here full of hope and Dane gave him a great ride.
“We will probably look for something with him in December and, hopefully, he will be able to get a run in a race at the Dubai World Cup Carnival next year.”
Sheikh Hamdan started the night on a winning note when Don’t Lie Kitten won the opening race in a small field. The daughter of Kitten’s Joy was on debut for trainer Ahmad bin Harmash and it kicked off the new season in style.
“That was a nice surprise and she has clearly improved a lot from her outing in a trial recently. It is a great start to my Meydan season,” winning jockey Xavier Ziani said.
Sheikh Hamdan continued his success when six-year-old Ajraam also repeated its victory from 12 months prior in the Emirates Handicap.
Ajraam was paying $8 to win the Emirates Handicap and winning jockey Fernando Jara thought that he was beaten on the line by Richard Mullen, but Jara and Ajraam held on for the narrow victory.
“I actually thought we had been caught,” Jara said. “Luckily for me my horse is very brave and has just held on.
“We thought he would run well as his work at home has been good.”
The meeting was the first for the season at Meydan and it kicked off its third-consecutive season running on the dirt surface.
The Meydan track had come under scrutiny from American-based trainers when it was a Tapeta surface. American journalist Steve Crist expressed his frustration in the surface before it was subsequently changed back to dirt for the 2014/2015 season.
“Since being run on a Tapeta surface at Meydan in 2010, it has become a nearly meaningless race beyond the money, with no championship implications and diminished American participation,” Crist said.
“Changing the World Cup from dirt to Tapeta was clearly a premature move, probably based on the false impression that racing in the US and perhaps elsewhere was headed for a synthetic future. Now, with synthetic Grade 1 racing on the verge of disappearing from the sport here, and little movement abroad toward racing top-class horses over anything but grass or dirt, running the world’s richest race on a synthetic surface makes it something of a white elephant, little more than a rich novelty.”
The US runners are expected to be back at Meydan in March and they currently head the Dubai World Cup market with champion stallion California Chrome.
The globetrotting sensation is currently $3 at Bet365.com to win the Dubai World Cup with fellow US-trained runners Frosted ($5), Exaggerator ($17) and Nyquist ($17) among the nominations.
Also on well-liked in the market is $4 chance Arrogate which won the 2016 Travers Stakes at just its fourth run. The three-year-old is also nominated for the Breeders’ Cup Classic on November 6 where it’s paying $3.75 at Sportsbet.
The field includes Dubai World Cup favourite California Chrome and fellow American runner Frosted.