RACING at Meydan 48 hours before Super Saturday was highlighted by The Graduate Stakes, a mile conditions contest on turf, and it was won fairly comfortably by Law Of Peace, confidently ridden by Tadhg O’Shea in the Naser Asker silks for Bhupat Seemar. This was the feature on the seven-race card, all for thoroughbreds.

Restricted to horses sold at ERA Racing In Dubai Sales staged in September 2020, April 2021 and September 2021, the race attracted a field of eight and O’Shea always appeared confident, biding his time before driving him past First Winter entering the final half a furlong.

A five-year-old gelding by Shamardal, Law Of Peace was winning for the fourth time, all in the UAE, and this was actually his second success in six days having won a mile dirt handicap at the Dubai World Cup Carnival the previous Friday. Victorious on both Meydan surfaces, he is also a winner on dirt at Jebel Ali and on the Abu Dhabi turf.

Currently leading the trainers’ championship, Seemar said: “He is such a talented horse but we opted for this easier option rather than a Super Saturday race as it was a good prize. I would imagine he will get a deserved break now but I will talk to the owner before confirming a definitive plan.”

The trainer was soon celebrating a double, combining with apprentice Sean Kirrane to land the following nine and a half furlong dirt handicap with belated seasonal debutant Twelfthofneverland for Dakki Stable.

O’Shea tried to make every post a winning one on the stable companion Pitcher’s Point, tracked by Kirrane who was only able to get past entering the final half a furlong. His mount just had enough left in the tank, on his first start for 327 days, to hold off Woodditton who snatched second in the shadow of the post. The winner is a six-year-old American-bred son of Istan.

Kirrane said: “He broke well tonight so I was able to get in a good position early on and I knew at the top of the straight I could catch Tadhg. When the other horse came to us my lad battled and, after such a long time off, it was a good win.”

Seemar ended a productive evening when O’Shea partnered the US-bred Dubawi six-year-old gelding Zero To A Hundred to score readily in the concluding mile turf handicap for owners Miss Avni Kapoor, Charnesh Kapoor and Nirav Kapoor, completing a double for O’Shea and a treble for the trainer. This was the winner’s second career and season success.

Coolest

Adrie de Vries was at his coolest in the six-furlong dirt handicap, content to await a gap on the rail before pushing Madkhal through it to win cosily in the colours of Fawzi Nass who also trains him. Only six went to post with De Vries settling the six-year-old gelded son of Distorted Humor in fourth, taking the shortest route throughout before launching his decisive move with about a furlong and a half to go.

De Vries’ mount was recording a fourth career success and third in the UAE under the Dutchman for present connections. He won once in Britain, for his breeders Godolphin, when trained by Saeed bin Suroor. The winning rider said: “He managed to unseat me behind the stalls which he often tries to do, but luckily I managed hold onto him. He is a character but has plenty of ability and is talented for his grade.”

The opening seven-furlong turf conditions contest for three-year-old provided Shadwell’s Monaadah the perfect opportunity to make a winning debut under Jim Crowley for Saeed bin Suroor. Always in the first four, Crowley asked the son of Giant’s Causeway to quicken inside the final two furlongs and they soon hit the front and had the race in safekeeping.

Promising start

A homebred, Monaadah could have hardly made a more promising belated start to his career and it will be interesting to see if he remains in the UAE or heads to Europe. Crowley said: “The trainer said he liked him beforehand and he always travelled well for me so I was happy throughout. He will stay further as well.”

Sultan Ali’s Light Beam was the beneficiary of a positive ride from Ray Dawson, the pair shooting clear with about two furlongs remaining in a turf maiden over nine furlongs and they were always in control thereafter for Ahmad bin Harmash. Wearing blinkers for the first time, the four-year-old Dubawi gelding was finally opening his account on his eighth racecourse appearance, and sixth for current connections, after two runs in Britain for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby.

A seven-furlong dirt handicap was dominated by Rashed Bouresly and the Bouresly Racing Syndicate who supplied the first two home, Davy Lamp never headed under Fernando Jara and chased home, at a respectable distance, by stablemate Tabarak. The latter had raced in third under Richard Mullen before snatching second close home from Triple Venture with that trio the first three pretty much throughout the whole race.

Jara said: “We broke well so I was keen to take advantage of that from a fair draw and it all worked out perfectly.” The winner is a seven-year-old son of Shamardal.