Dubai: Rabbah De Carrere came with a telling run to become the first winner on Dubai World Cup night in the Dubai Kahayla Classic sponsored by Emaar.
Under the globetrotting French jockey Olivier Peslier, the five-year-old son of Bibe De Carrere secured an unprecedented success for the team, who have now won every Group 1 Purebred Arabian race in the UAE this season. Owner Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Presidential Affairs, enjoyed his second winner in this race.
Not only did Majed Al Jahouri train the winner, but he also saddled the third-placed finisher Musharab and Raaziq in fourth.
From the moment the gates flew open, things looked good for Al Jahouri and his team.
Naseem made the early pace and gave way only on the far straight when he was challenged by Djanka Des Forges, who was trained in Qatar by Julian Smart.
The mare led until the home straight and then drifted off the rail, leaving a gap for Olivier Peslier to conjure a last-gasp effort for Rabbah De Carrere to shoot clear and win his third Group 1 race in a row.
This follows wins in HH The President’s Cup and also in the Maktoum Challenge Round 2 at Meydan.
Peslier said: “The draw was not very easy and the first three furlongs were not very fast, so then I just kept going and I saw Christophe Lemaire coming on the outside, so I just stayed behind him.
“On the straight, I did not have much choice in terms of what to do. I wanted to come between the horses and my horse, he hung too much on the rail. The gap was already open, but I just wanted my horse to accelerate. He did that well, but more important is the winning performance.”
Al Jahouri said: “It was a hard race, with a very strong field, but we did it in the end. He’s a tough horse, and a lot of them [the rivals], three or four, they ran very good today.
“It surprised me that Musharrab finished third. He’s not had too many races and he does not have the experience, but today he showed he is a top-class horse. I don’t know what the future holds for him. It will be the boss’s [Shaikh Mansour’s] decision. I think we would be tempted to send him to Qatar for a while and then we will see what the boss decides to do with him.”
Lara Sawaya, representing Shaikh Mansour and the Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Racing Festival, said: “It is a great win because it is a local trainer, local owner and breeder and Olivier Pelier is a great jockey. He told me think positive, Olivier. He is a great jockey and at same time Majed Al Jahouri is an excellent trainer.”
— With inputs from Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter and Ashley Hammond, Staff Reporter
