A daytime fixture at Meydan last Saturday comprised a six-race card. The features were a pair of handicaps, over six furlongs on turf and a mile on dirt.

Each resulted in impressive wins that could have Dubai World Cup Carnival implications.

In the sprint, apprentice Sean Kirrane continued his good form with a smooth success aboard Speedy Move for Satish Seemar and owners Sean Ewing and Touch Gold Racing. Fresh from an Al Ain double the previous night aboard purebred Arabians, Kirrane was always prominent on Speedy Move, gaining the initiative inside the final furlong and running on strongly to win in style. This was the sixth career victory for the Iffraaj eight-year-old, half of them being in the UAE.

“Yesterday was great at Al Ain to ride a double and to follow up here today with my first winner at Meydan is just brilliant,” Kirrane said. “I have to thank Mr Seemar and his team for the opportunity.”

The mile dirt handicap produced a thrilling finish with Trenchard being caught in the final strides by the Erwan Charpy-trained Moqarrar and Dane O’Neill, riding for Sheikh Hamdan. The five-year-old Exchange Rate gelding was recording his third career win and second locally. “We were excited after his first win for us last year and he had three runs at the Carnival, but has dropped down the ratings again,” Charpy said.

“He does not know how to run a bad race and has been generally consistent this season when we have kept him quite busy. Obviously, we will have to see what the handicapper does before making any firm plans, but it is great to see him win again.”

The opening seven-furlong maiden on dirt went to Fawzi Nass and Adrie de Vries, the latter producing Lacienegaboulevard to lead in the final furlong. For the winning son of Shanghai Bobby, it was a maiden success at the fifth attempt, all at Meydan. De Vries said: “He is a nice horse who has shown some good form in the past, so we were quite hopeful coming here because the yard has started to fire and the horses are running well.”

That comment was emphasised in the following mile turf maiden for three-year-olds and produced an almost a carbon copy victory with Al Mukhtar Star. De Vries was happy to take his time in the first half of the race before switching to the outside in the stretch and delivering his telling challenge. A three-year-old Lemon Drop Kid colt, owned by Al-Afoo Racing Stable, this was just his third career start and first on turf.

“That has been a great start to the afternoon and they are both nice horses who we thought had good chances,” Nass said. “Adrie has ridden both perfectly and we would like to think there is more to come from them both.”

The 10-furlong dirt handicap was contested by the maximum field of 16, but was dominated from the outset by the enigmatic Gundogdu, sent straight to the front by Xavier Ziani and never headed. A five-year-old gelded son of Bernardini, trained by Salem bin Ghadayer for Hamad Rashed bin Ghedayer, it was a fourth career victory and second at the trip. “That is how he likes to race and today, after two lesser runs, he was back to the level of form he showed when we won here in November,” Ziani said. “He is hard to get past when out in front enjoying himself, as he was this afternoon.”

The concluding nine-furlong handicap on turf was won in determined style by the Satish Seemar-trained Dolmen, ridden to victory by Richard Mullen this season. The son of Dawn Approach won a 10-furlong handicap on dirt two starts ago and finished second on turf at Meydan last time out.

Al Ain January 31st

The only thoroughbred race on the card was a mile handicap in which Royston Ffrench rousted Rich And Famous to lead after a handful of strides and the pair were never headed. Saddled by Salem bin Ghaadyer for Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, the six-year-old Bernardini gelding was registering a third career success, but his first in the UAE. He won twice over fix furlongs when trained by Mark Johnston.

Ffrench said: “That is a great result for the whole team because it was a group decision to put a hood on him today. He has been tricky in the stalls but the headgear, step up in trip and positive tactics have really suited him.”

Abu Dhabi February 2nd

Racing in the capital had as its feature a 10-furlong handicap, the only race for thoroughbreds. It saw an easy victory for Mudaarab, ridden by Jim Crowley for Sheikh Hamdan and trained by Erwan Charpy whose horses have been in good form all season. The six-year-old gelding by Distorted Humor powered home to record a second course and distance victory this season, having twice won in England when trained by Sir Michael Stoute.