Abu Dhabi: Jomar Torres Roman from Puerto Rico became the third apprentice jockey to qualify for the final of the HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival’s 2015 HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship final to be held on November 8 in Abu Dhabi.

Roman showed excellent skills when he steered nine-year-old Ayers to victory by a neck from the Sam Vazquez-owned ES Mi Cielo to win Saturday’s HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship race in Sacramento, US.

Ayers had finished second in this race last year, when outclassed by Sammy V, and had been consistently performing in the Festival’s races, but on Saturday the Burning Sands chestnut finally won to register his 19th career win in 57 starts.

Roman and Ayers were slow to start off and it was My Vaz Is Hot and Twice Rich that set the early place. Coming into the home stretch, Ayers was fourth behind Twice Rich, ES Mi Cielo and My Vaz Is Hot.

Soon Ayers joined the battle and, along with Twice Rich under Korean Song Jae-chul and ES Mi Cielo under American Lauralea Glaser, the three battled it all the way to the finish. Roman and Ayers headed Es Mi Cielo by a neck, with Twice Rich finishing third. The winning time for the six-furlong distance was 1min 17.96sec.

The Puerto Rican now joins Australian Ben Thompson and Belgium’s Zoe Van De Velde with seven more races in the series before the final.

“I am very happy that I won today and thanks to all those who made this new championship series for apprentice jockeys possible. I am looking forward to the final in Abu Dhabi now,” Roman said.

The prize distribution ceremony was attended by Abdullah Al Suboosi, UAE Consul General in Los Angeles, Adnan Sultan Al Nuaimi, Director General of Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Lara Sawaya — Executive Director of the Festival, Chairperson of the International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA), and Chairperson of Ladies & Apprentice Racing Committees in the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR) — and representatives of US Arabian racing bodies.

“The first three races in the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship series have been won by apprentice jockeys from three different continents. We still have seven more races in this 2015 series and they will be held in Belgium, United Kingdom, Poland, Tatarstan [Russia], the Netherlands, France and Brazil,” Sawaya said.