ONE of Dubai’s longest serving trainers is Frenchman Ewan Charpy and he was celebrating a major victory last Friday when Sefri held off the challenge of the favourite Forjatt to land the spoils in the Group 3 Jebel Ali Mile sponsored by Derrinstown Stud on dirt, collecting a winner’s purse of more than £60,000.

Paul Hanagan steered the son of Jazil to his biggest success and the six-year-old races in the colours of Hamdan Al Maktoum. Afterwards the winning trainer said: “We will look at the Jebel Ali Stakes and perhaps try him again at Meydan, but the style of dirt racing is fast and furious which did not suit him last season.”