Al Ain: Veronica Aske, the former Norwegian jockey turned racehorse trainer, made a winning debut at Al Ain Racecourse on Friday when she saddled Latifa Princess to win the first race in the Wathba Stud Farm Cup series. The winner was given a confident ride by Sam Hitchcott in the Dh75,000 contest over 1000 metres.
Speaking after her first success as a trainer, Aske said: “We were quite hopeful. She is a lovely mare with plenty of speed and goes well on the dirt so had plenty in her favour,” said Aske, who enjoyed a stint as assistant trainer with former champion handler Ernst Oertel in the UAE.
Al Ain’s season-opener on Friday afternoon also saw the colours of Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, carried to victory in three of the meets seven races.
First season Al Wathba handler Nacer Samiri, who had saddled a double at Abu Dhabi last Sunday, was responsible for all three winners.
Pat Dobbs continued his prolific weekend with victory in the official highlight, a 1600m handicap, aboard Haajeb.
Having secured a Meydan treble less than 24 hours earlier, Dobbs added this feature to his haul and then said: “It has been a good weekend.”
Samiri was repeating the feat after scoring with Haizoom in a 1400m maiden.
Only six went to post, but halfway up the long straight, five were still in contention before Haizoom and Al Harth pulled clear.
O’Shea’s mount, in front 300m out, ran on gamely to deny apprentice Hector Crouch a first UAE winner on the runner-up. “I actually hoped she might win a bit easier than that,” said O’Shea, completing a double of his own. “But she won which is the main thing.”
The meeting concluded with a 1600m maiden and Samiri completed a treble with Eskandar and Jose Santiago hanging on grimly from the late challenge of Babel D’Aillas.
O’Shea had earlier won the opening 1800m maiden, the only Thoroughbred race on the card, with a comfortable victory aboard I’Tilaf, having only his third career start.
Unraced when with Godolphin in England, the winner was switched to Ali Rashid Al Raihe for whom he had two starts in March at the end of last season. Well-beaten on both occasions, he has clearly progressed over the summer and won nicely under a confident O’Shea.
“He has had very little racing and is a bit of a nervous sort,” said O’Shea. “This will have done his confidence a lot of good and I was happy from a long way out.
“He has a real dirt pedigree and loves this surface. Hopefully, he can be competitive in handicaps now.”
