ABU DHABI // Laamma was an impressive winner of the Arabian Triple Crown Round 2 on his UAE debut, completing a double for the trainer Majed Al Jahouri.
The Munjis colt came with a strong late run under Harry Bentley to inflict a first defeat in five races on the Round 1 winner Shayel Aldhabi in the Group 3 race for four year olds.
Laamma's victory came after Kieren Fallon had led a 1-2-3 finish on Jarnin for the Emirati trainer half-an-hour earlier at Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club on Sunday night.
Bentley rode a patient race on Laamma. He had the colt tucked behind the front-runners as the lead changed three times over the 2,200-metre trip.
James Doyle was quickly out of the gates and settled Bayan in front.
Tadhg O'Shea took Shayel Aldhabi to the lead at the 1,600m pole before Asad Al Siyabi took over with 700m left.
O'Shea was back in the lead as they swept on to the final stretch but Bentley made smooth headway to win from Ernst Oertel's pair Shayel Aldhabi and Najm Alemarat, ridden by Richard Mullen.
"This was the first time he was doing this distance and the question was if he would stay. And he proved that tonight," the winning jockey said.
"He's a nice horse with some decent form in France. He certainly has room for a lot of improvement after his first run in the UAE, which was a winning one."
Fallon talked up Jarnin, the 2010 winner of The President of the UAE Cup when trained by Saifaldin Deeb, insisting the horse displayed his true form.
"He was unlucky last time," said Fallon, who was third behind stable companion Naseem on the 10-year-old son of Akbar in the President's Cup three weeks ago.
"I thought we could have won if we had a clear run.
"I was locked up trying to get a run from the inside. He's made up for it tonight."
Patrick Cosgrave rode Jaber Bittar's Monawer to victory over another Oertel-trained runner Hab Nessnas in the Emirates Colts Classic.
The Bibi De Carrere colt was the winner of the Abu Dhabi Colts Classic over the course and distance in December.
He ran a good fourth behind Skoop in the UAE Arabian Derby in his last start two weeks ago.
Oertel and O'Shea began brightly by taking the opener on Errada but had to be content with one winner from the 11 entries in the six-race card.
MALTHOUSE TAKES A LIKING TO THE CAPITAL'S TRACK
Malthouse made it two out of two at Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club on Sunday night and is expected to return for the Emirates Championship on March 17.
Richard Mullen rode the gelded son of Green Desert to win the Prep race by three lengths with Mulaqat, ridden by James Doyle, and Mantoba, with Kieren Fallon on board, sharing the second spot in a dead-heat.
"He's a lovely horse and won earlier on when Pat [Cosgrave] rode him. He ran at Meydan last time but just didn't seem he to handle the left-handed track," Mullen said.
"We were pretty confident on his work at home. He likes fast ground and a strong pace, which was there tonight. He quickened up off a good pace and he will be an exciting horse in the Emirates Championship.
"The stable has been in fantastic form and a lot of credit goes to the staff and all their work that goes unnoticed. I do the easy part of steering the horses and collecting the trophies."
Bhupat Seemar, the assistant trainer, said the obvious choice was to bring him back to Abu Dhabi.
"We may or may not run him just to save him for this race. We'll go back and see how he has come out of this race and he should be able to tell us," he said.
"We were expecting a good run. He took some time off in the middle in his last run at Meydan. We are learning from him as well and he seems to love this track."
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