The Horse Racing Site of UAE

Tonight's 11-furlong Group I race for Purebred Arabian horses, His Highness The President's Cup, has attracted one of the strongest pack of runners at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club race course.

Leading the 11-horse field is Kahalya Classic winner of last year, Nez D'Or, who will be giving trainer Julian Smart the hope of making it three-in-a-row in the prestigious President's Cup.

Smart won the last two of Dh250,000 races through Ezil and brought Dormane's son his first win of the season. Rated 127, the highest in the field, Nez D'Or will be ridden by Wayne Smith and despite facing a strong opposition, the Smart runner should be able to score tonight as predicted.

Adjudged Purebred Arabian horse of the year for the 2001-02 season, Nez D'Or's other minor handicap comes in the fact that he returns to grass after some quality performances on dirt last season. Nez D'Or was in awesome form during the second part of last season, winning twice in the Maktoum Challenge before bagging the big one - the Kahalya Classic - on Dubai World Cup night.

"I am expecting a hopefully good run from Nez D'Or," Julian Smart told Gulf News. "My only fear is that he is running for the first time this season while all the others have had a run. He might just lack that fitness.

"However, he has been working well and should do well," Smart said adding that his other runner Alto De Maligne (Richard Mullen up) will run well if he wants to mentally.

Though in a class of his own, the main challenge, if any for Nez D'Or, could come from Kiaran McLaughlin's Iska Al Mels and Gill Duffield's Monsieur Al Maury. Other runners include Erwan Charpy's Djelmidor, Yancey Carter's Sarrabe and Deryl Duncan's Mebrouk. Five other races complete the six-race card and the action starts at 7pm.

TODAY’S ABU DHABI RACE CARD
No.	Gate No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockeys	Weights
RACE NO 1
1	6	Alafzar	R Beckett	R Mullen	62
2	10	Flash Flood	J Sadler	M Hussey	62
3	13	Painted Room	A Smith	T Naughton	62
4	16	Speedfit Too	M Al Kurdi	C Gannon	61
5	8	Tangram	P L Rudkin	T O’Shea	61
6	1	Next Knight	S Seemar	T Durcan	60.5
7	7	Frodo	P L Rudkin	A Whelan	60
8	11	Mumari	E Charpy	R Hills	60
9	9	Night Style	A Selvaratnam	H Keohane	59
10	3	Better Mix	J Sadler	J Murtagh	58.5
11	14	Woodfield	R Alford	H Yuce	58.5
12	12	Bayo	J Smart	S O’Gorman	57.5
13	5	Ozenmek	A de Mieulle	G Avranche	57.5
14	2	Royal Dance	E Charpy	S Sanders	57.5
15	4	Suraaj	M Al Kurdi	W Smith	57.5
16	15	Francal	S Seemar	R Moore	57
17	17	Mustafhel	A Selvaratnam	1st Reserve	56.5
18	18	Mobaader	J Sadler	2nd Reserve	56.5
RACE NO 2
1	15	AF Zaeem	A.R. Alraihe	L Bester	56.5
2	2	Al Wasseef	E Charpy	S Sanders	56.5
3	7	Dahrooj	Mohammed Ali	W Smith	56.5
4	14	El Thabit	R Simpson	G Hind	56.5
5	1	Yazin	J F Bernard	R Mullen	56.5
6	13	AF Ayeh	A.R. Alraihe	C Avery	54.5
7	10	Malikat Al Maydan	R Simpson	T Houlihan	54.5
8	12	Zafrana	M Al Darmaki	C Gannon	54.5
9	4	Zeina	J Peromingo	J Carroll	54.5
10	3	Al Aweg W’rsan	G Oxley	A Whelan	53
11	11	Al Nab’a	J Peromingo	S Hamel	53
12	16	Baher	Dr J Bittar	J Stack	53
13	9	Rezan Almaa	R Simpson	C Taylor	53
14	8	RS Farzan	Mohammed Ali	T Durcan	53
15	6	Shiab	Dr J Bittar	S O’Gorman	53
16	5	Taloomany	J Frazier Jr	M Hussey	51
RACE NO 3
1	5	Tidjam Lotois	J Smart	R Mullen	58.5
2	7	A’Sareye	M Kettle	J Stack	54.5
3	1	Dashing Zell	E Charpy	S Sanders	54.5
4	3	Agrab Al Nas	J Frazier Jr	C Arnold	52
5	4	Emiraty	R Whitaker	W Smith	51.5
6	6	Kaolino	Gill Duffield	M Hussey	50.5
7	2	Sarrab	L Y Carter Jr	T O’Shea	50.5
RACE NO 4
1	2	Alto De Maligne	J Smart	R Mullen	57
2	6	Cassanova I	Dr J Bittar	S O’Gorman	57
3	1	Djelmidor	E Charpy	G Avranche	57
4	10	El Wodkine	J Wickham	T Durcan	57
5	9	Idole D’Auvergne	J F Bernard	G Hind	57
6	7	Iska Al Mels	K McLaughlin	W Supple	57
7	8	Mebrouk	D Duncan	D Biggs	57
8	11	Monsieur Al Maury	Gill Duffield	R Hills	57
9	5	Nez D’Or	J Smart	W Smith	57
10	3	Sarrabe	L Y Carter Jr	W Ryan	57
11	4	Dorfa	E Charpy	S Sanders	55
RACE NO 5
1	5	AF Muntaha	R Simpson	G Hind	58.5
2	7	Asi	J Peromingo	S Hamel	56.5
3	4	Muwasell	Dr J Bittar	J Stack	55.5
4	10	Dijla	B Al Ketbi	R Laaroussi	55
5	3	Inssam	J Smart	W Smith	55
6	9	Birj	J Peromingo	J Carroll	54
7	8	Naseem Al Bur	J Peromingo	C Gannon	54
8	1	Ghaleb	P Treloar	R Mullen	52
9	2	Moutawaj	J Frazier Jr	C Arnold	51.5
10	6	AF Al Ghaseb	R Simpson	T Houlihan	50
RACE NO 6
1	5	Mahboob Salman	J Salman	M Hussey	57
2	7	Mawwal	J Frazier Jr	J Carroll	57
3	1	Katleen Du Causse	M Al Muhairi	C Avery	55
4	3	Naseerah	M Kettle	S Al-Badi	55
5	2	AF Al Jabber	Deeb Saif El Din	C Tellier	54.5
6	6	Burnin Reflection	L Y Carter Jr	W Ryan	54.5
7	4	Djarick De L’Eyre	J Smart	W Smith	54.5
8	12	Mutamam	Salem Al Ketbi	B Abdul Kareem	54.5
9	8	Sir Oliver MRV	G Oxley	R Mullen	54.5
10	9	Hamasah	E Charpy	R Hills	52.5
11	10	Orenda	B Al Ketbi	C Arnold	52.5
12	11	Tahera	Dr J Bittar	D Biggs	52.5
13	13	Shaji	E Charpy	1st Reserve	54.5
14	14	Badran	L Y Carter Jr	2nd Reserve	54.5
RACE NO 7
1	10	Al Majd	M Kettle	R Mullen	57
2	2	Al Seimi	J F Bernard	W Smith	57
3	6	Ana Bass	M Al Muhairi	C Taylor	57
4	5	Leeward	P Treloar	S Kamble	57
5	4	Anaykh Anantah	Deeb Saif El Din	J Panas	55
6	9	Kesbes De Chaillac	E Charpy	S Sanders	55
7	12	Djebeltarik	Dr J Bittar	S O’Gorman	54.5
8	3	Kasid	K McLaughlin	R Hills	54.5
9	7	Messaly	J Frazier Jr	J Carroll	54.5
10	1	Sugarbear MRV	G Oxley	G Hind	54.5
11	8	Al Jasoor	G Selvaratnam	M Williamson	52.5
12	11	Wadha	Salem Al Ketbi	A Whelan	52.5
13	13	Khayali	Salem Al Ketbi	1st Reserve	54.5