Jebel Ali records tumble as Al Muhairi saddles four winners

Peter Ward 14:01 11/01/2014
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  • Much at stake: Winner Interpret (l).

    It was quite a remarkable afternoon at Jebel Ali on Friday with no less than three track records falling and trainer Musabah Al Muhairi winning four of the five Thoroughbred races, highlighted by the victory of Interpret in the Listed Jebel Ali Stakes.

    Much of the credit has to go to Godolphin jockey Silvestre De Sousa as he refused to concede defeat when his mount appeared in trouble almost 1,000m out.

    The Brazilian jockey said: “The trainer was confident of a good run but warned me it could be quite hard work as he takes a bit of rousting and that certainly proved the case.”

    Interpret is a half-brother to the 2007 Dubai World Cup winner Invasor and was completing a double for jockey and trainer after Colmar Kid broke the track record in the preceding 1,600m conditions race.

    Shaishee was a third consecutive winner for the trainer in the first of two 1,400m handicaps, initiating a treble for jockey Paul Hanagan and his main employer Sheikh Hamdan.

    He was also the second of Al Muhairi’s winners to set a new track record.

    Al Muhairi said: “We were confident of a good afternoon but four winners in five races is more than we could have hoped.”

    Hanagan then won the concluding 1,200m handicap on the Ali Rashid Al Raihe-trained Mujaazef, another for Sheikh Hamdan who lowered the previous track record.

    Hanagan said: “That has obviously been a great afternoon for the boss and myself. Driving here today I knew I had some good chances.”

    Ted Durcan opened his account of the season in the opening 1,600m conditions contest, the only Purebred Arabian race on the card. The winner, Bouthayna Al Areef trained by Jaber Bittar, was winning at Jebel Ali for a second time.

    The Al Muhairi quartet takes him to 26 winners for the season, eight more than reigning Champion Trainer Ernst Oertel.

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