ABU DHABI // After riding winners at Jebel Ali and Sharjah in the past two days in his first visit to the Emirates as the retained jockey for Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, Paul Hanagan will hope to add to that list when he arrives in Abu Dhabi tonight.
The two-time British champion jockey has four rides in the latest meeting in the capital and can get off the mark straightaway on the Purebred Arabian Munsef in the opener, a Maiden run over 1,600m.
The gelded four-year-old son of Eau Royal trained by Erwan Charpy has finished fourth and second in his last two races.
Hanagan rides Tejaara in the next for Gillian Duffield, Aqmaar for Musabah Al Muhairi and Almiqdaad for Charpy in the only race for the thoroughbreds in the six-race card.
Almiqdaad returns from injury to race for the first time in more than a year since his win at Abu Dhabi over the 2,200m distance in November 2011.
A useful handicapper when trained by Michael Jarvis in the UK, the six-year-old gelding by Haafhd will face 12 others in the handicap rated 75 to 95 run over 2,400m.
"He just put his head in front last time, right on the line," Charpy said. "But sadly he was injured in the process, because we were looking forward to running him at the Dubai World Cup Carnival.
"He is a big horse and will definitely improve for this run and we really hope to be contesting those staying races at Meydan."
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