Simpson keen to carry on the momentum

DUBAI // Rod Simpson's return has been a fairytale. The Englishman with three winners already for his new employer the Al Asayl Stables is hoping to add another from tonight's Nad Al Sheba's fifth meeting. He runs Fryvolous in the opener, a rated conditions for Purebred Arabians. And the trainer felt the Dormane gelding can improve from his second to the champion mare Mizzna in Abu Dhabi on Nov 16. "Excellent, confident," was Simpson's simple answer when asked about his horse's chances.

"He ran a good first race and I don't see any reason why he won't improve from that outing. I don't expect him to be fully wound up until January but he's on the upgrade and looking forward for a good run." The leading owner for Purebred Arabians Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid's silks are well represented in the race with Gillian Duffield's pair Markoom and Tashreefat, and Doug Watson's Paris Gagner. Markoom is the choice of the owner's retained jockey Richard Hills and with a run under his belt, the six-year-old by Bengali D'Albret is the one likely to trouble Simpson's runner.

Simpson has two more entries half hour later in the Al Quoz Novice, the first of the five races for thoroughbreds in which Watson's Gulf Of Gold is the fancy. The Englishman was more hopeful than confident of Shahin Shah. "He ran a decent race to finish second in his first start in the UAE and can follow up with another good showing." Wayne Smith, who is returning after a ban, can steer top weight Africanus to victory in the next from Tri Another Cat and Daweyyr, who is well handicapped to break his maiden tag. Bold Glance can provide another winner for the Emirati trainer-jockey combination Mubarak Khalifa bin Shafya and Ahmad Ajtebi.

The Kingmambo gelding can improve from his second to Aamaaq on his UAE bow and first run in more than a year. Sahara Sphinx and Lucky Ray, chasing a hat trick, are the dangers. Remaadd can leave his poor first run behind to take the featured handicap and give Dhruba Selvaratnam his fifth winner. Pearly King and Mutasallil will pose the threats and Watson's newcomer Trust N Dustan looks an interesting newcomer.

apassela@thenational.ae NAD AL SHEBA CARD 7.00pm AL BARSHA PLATE 1,600m (PA) Rated Conditions Dh 110,000 1. 010- CES BON (5y ch g) 58.5kgs M.Gharib ? R.Burke 1 2. 000- ALASIL (5y ch g) 55 S.Seemar ? D.Smith 11 3. 0-53 BAHER (7y ch h) 55 E.Lemartinel ? T.Durcan 5 4. 2-42 FIRSTWAN (5y b h) 55 A.Al Raihe ? R.Ffrench 4 5. 55-2 FRYVOLOUS (5y b g) 55 R.Simpson ? D.O'Donohoe 2 6. 26-2 MARKOOM (6y gr g) 55 Gillian Duffield ? R.Hills 6

7. 406- PARIS GAGNER (5y gr g) 55 D.Watson ? F.Jara 9 8. 111- VITE ROYALE (6y ch h) 55 M.Al Muhairi ? W.Smith 3 9. 00-0 WAR SILKS (6y gr h) 55 S.Seemar ? A.Ajtebi (1.5kgs) 7 10. 154- OUASSILA THABET (6y ch m) 54.5 E.Charpy ? T.O'Shea 8 11. 21-0 TASHREEFAT (6y ch m) 53 Gillian Duffield ? R.Mullen 10 7.30pm AL QUOZ NOVICE 2,000m (TB) Novice Dh 50,000 1. 310- GULF OF GOLD (5y db/br g) 59.5 D.Watson ? F.Jara 5

2. 05-5 JAP KKHATTAF (5y ch h) 59.5 I.Ellahi ? T.Durcan 3 3. 00-5 EL VICTORY (4y b c) 56.5 A.Selvaratnam ? T.O'Shea 2 4. 0-43 PENTLAND FIRTH (4y b c) 56.5 M.Al Muhairi ? W.Smith 6 5. 66-2 SHAHIN SHAH (3y b c) 55 R.Simpson ? R.Mullen 7 6. 56-0 SHIRNAKA (3y b c) 55 R.Simpson ? D.O'Donohoe 1 7. 00- CLASSICAL FLAIR (4y ch f) 54.5 M.Kettle ? R.Burke 4 8.00pm AL DHIYAFAH 1,600m Handicap (rated 55-70) Dh 44,000

1. 0-01 AFRICANUS (6y b h) 61.5 M.Al Muhairi ? W.Smith 6 2. 2-61 TRI ANOTHER CAT (8y b g) 60.5 D.Watson ? F.Jara 3 3. 000- DESERT SANDS (10y b g) 59.5 S.Seemar ? R.Mullen 5 4. 6-24 FIGHT (9y b g) 57 D.Watson ? D.O'Donohoe 1 5. 00-3 DAWEYRR (4y b g) 54.5 D.Selvaratnam ? W.Buick 2 6. 000- LUCKY JULES (8y b g) 52.5 A.Selvaratnam ? A.Ajtebi (1.5) 4 8.30pm AL MANKHOOL 1,800m (TB) Handicap (70-85) Dh 60,000

1. 4-62 SAHARA SPHINX (5y ch h) 61.5 M.Al Muhairi ? W.Smith 10 2. 0-11 LUCKY RAY (5y b h) 58.5 D.Watson ? D.O'Donohoe 5 3. 05-0 ZOOM ONE (4y ch g) 58.5 D.Selvaratnam ? W.Buick 3 4. 10-2 BOLD GLANCE (4y gr g) 58 M.Bin Shafya ? A.Ajtebi (1.5) 6 5. 3-05 MORGHIM (5y b h) 58 E.Charpy ? R.Hills 4 6. 00-0 KERASHAN (6y b g) 57.5 A.Al Raihe ? R.Ffrench 9 7. 2-54 LOVER BOY (5y ch g) 57.5 D.Watson ? F.Jara 8

8. 021- MUTAJAMMEL (6y b g) 57.5 E.Charpy ? T.O'Shea 1 9. 40-0 TE VOGLIO BENE (5y ch g) 56.5 D.Watson ? T.Durcan 2 10. 540- EMIRATES LINE (5y ch g) 54.5 M.Bin Shafya ? J.Rosales 7 9.00pm AL SAFA 2,000 (TB) Handicap (85+) Dh 110,000 1. 40-6 MUTASALLIL (8y db/br h) 60.5 D.Watson ? R.Hills 9 2. 0-21 PEARLY KING (5y br g) 59.5 M.Al Muhairi ? W.Smith 2 3. 002- MISTER FASLIYEV (6y b g) 59 E.Charpy ? T.O'Shea 1

4. 05-4 REMAADD (7y gr g) 57 D.Selvaratnam ? W.Buick 3 5. 400- SUNDAY SYMPHONY (6y br g) 57 S.Seemar ? R.Mullen 6 6. 624- TRUST N DUSTAN (3y ch g) 57 D.Watson ? D.O'Donohoe 8 7. 00-3 ELMUSTANSER (7y b h) 53.5 D.Watson ? F.Jara 4 8. 5-52 MARRIAJ (4y db/br c) 53.5 A.Al Raihe ? R.Ffrench 5 9. 30-5 PALM COURT (3y b g) 52 A.Al Raihe ? A.Ajtebi (1.5) 7 9.30pm AL KARAMA 1,200m (TB) Handicap (70-95) Dh 70,000

1. 454- MINEFIELD (4y b c) 62 E.Charpy ? T.O'Shea 5 2. 020- HEYWOOD (4y b g) 61.5 A.Manuel ? A.Nicholls 9 3. 400- VALIANCE (4y ch g) 61.5 M.De Kock ? D.O'Donohoe 4 4. 400- EKHTIAAR (4y b g) 61 A.Al Raihe ? R.Ffrench 3 5. 1-12 MASQUERADER (6y ch g) 58.5 M.Al Muhairi ? W.Smith 7 6. 5-00 NIGHT GUMBLER (4y ro g) 56.5 O.Mohammed ? F.Jara 1 7. 236- SWEET DALI (5y gr m) 55 S.Seemar ? R.Mullen 8 8. 000- ARMINIUS (5y b g) 54 M.Bin Shafya ? A.Ajtebi (1.5) 6

9. 210- HADAHOO (4y b g) 52.5 D.Selvaratnam ? W.Buick 2 Selections: 7.00pm: Fryvolous - Markoom 7.30pm: Gulf Of Gold - Shahin Shah 8.00pm: Africanus - Daweyrr 8.30pm: Bold Glance - Sahara Sphinx 9.00pm: Remaadd - Pearly King 9.30pm: Valiance - Minefield