Trainer Alban de Mieulle and jockey David Bouland   won  the richest race for Purebred Arabians here yesterday when Nizam comfortably won the His Highness The President's Cup. It was a grand double for the Qatari connections of Nizam as Alban and David had also combined to carry away the National Day Cup through Al Anood. A strong field of 14 runners in the Dh1 million race, the richest in the world for Purebred Arabians, Nizam captured the hearts of a large crowd who had turned out amidst a festive atmosphere. Bouland, who had earlier in the evening set the  tone  with a fine victory on Julio Peromingo's Juliett 1,  had fovour on his side as Jiyush, the crowd favourite failed to challenge.

However, Yancey Carter's Ashaaya D'Aroco also ran a good race and finished behind Nizam, the winner making it five-in-a-row and 9 wins out of ten starts. 

Bouland also complete a double and along with Alban de Mieulle received the coveted President's Cup from Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President ADEC and Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE Equestrian and Racing Federation.

Earlier the Doug Watson-trained Djelmane made a winning debut here with jockey Richard Hills riding a superb race. The 5-year-old son of Dormane looked a picture of fitness in the paddock and went on to demolish a strong field of runners in the Abu Dhabi National Hotels Mile with Kent Du Cassou (Ryan Moore up) in second place after doing all the running early on. AF Athhalatni (Craig Arnold astride) and Ahmadani Musafer (Richard Mullen up) gave the large crowd a thrilling finish with the former just putting her nose in front of the latter.

Jockey David Hayse completed a late double when he first partnered the Erwan Charpy-trained Meera, which ran a fabulous race to win the sixth event and later rode Yancey Carter-trained Raggas to complete the night with a double. Earlier in the opening race of the meeting, Satish Seemar's reserve horse Senlis replaced stablemate Avionic as a starter and went on to win the mile for thoroughbreds. Michael Hussey came up with a fine run in the final stretch to win from Better Mix (Richard Mullen up). "Avionic was not 100 per cent fit as he was not eating well. Senlis, who is a sort of 'in and out' horse had to be ridden differently," said Seemar. "We decided to be more aggressive on him and Hussey did just that and it paid off," said the winning trainer.

Results

1. ADNOC Distribution Trophy, Thoroughbreds, 1,600 metres:
1. Senlis (Satish Seemar) Michael Hussey;
2. Better Mix (Musabah Al Muhairi) Richard Mullen;
3. Majaarat (Paddy Rudkin) Paul Hanagan.
Not run: Avionic, Baynunah
Dist: .75L, Shd, 2.25L. Time: 1:35:02

2. ADNOC Distribution Maiden, Purebred Arabians, 1,400m:
1. Juliett 1 (Julio Peromingo) David Bouland;
2. Katleen Du Causse (Gillian Duffield) Pat Smullen;
3. Messaly (James Frazier Jr.) John Carroll.
Dist: .25L, 5.75L, Shd. Time: 1:33:56

3. ADNOC Distribution Challenge Cup, Purebred, UAE-bred maidens, 1,400m:
1. AF Athhalatani (Jaber Bittar) Craig Arnold;
2. Ahmadani Musafer (Ali Rashid Al Rahie) Richard Mullen;
3. Saket (Jaber Bittar) Seamus O'Gormon.
Dist: Nose, 2.75L, 5L Time: 1:33.63

4. Abu Dhabi National Hotels Mile, Purebred Arabians, 1,600m:
1. Djelmane (Doug Watson) Richard Hills;
2. Kent Du Cassou (Satish Seemar) Ryan Moore;
3. Abu Samra (Gillian Duffield) John Carroll.
Dist: 1.75L, .75L, .25 Time: 1:45.84

5. HH The President's Cup, Group 1, ADNOC Distribution, 2,200m:
1.Nizam (Alban de Mieulle) David Bouland;
2. Ashaaya D'Aroco (Yancey Carter Jr.) David Hayse;
3. Have Fun (Gillian Duffield) Paul Hanagan.
Dist: Time: 2:29.93

6. ADNOC Distribution Handicap, Purebred Arabians, 2,200m:
1. Meera (Erwan Charpy) Paul Hanagan; 2. Sarrab (Yancey Carter Jr.) David Hayse
3. Ryan Giggs (Mazin Al Kurdi) Gary Hind
7. The ADNOC Distribution Maiden Trophy, Purebred Arabians, 1,400m:
1. Raggas (Yancey Carter) David Hayse; 2. Tronasonic (Gerald Oxley) Robert Burke; 3. Jest Dew It (Gerard Oxley) Ryan Moore.