Goemon lifted the Southern Governorate Cup last night in the 11th meeting of the 2024-25 season at Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club (REHC) in Sakhir.
Goemon won in the day’s fifth race for owner Mohammed Khalid Abdulrahman and trainer Haider Ebrahim, with jockey Alberto Sanna in the saddle.
His Majesty King Hamad’s representative for humanitarian work and youth affairs and Supreme Council for Youth and Sport chairman Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa was in attendance, along with Isa Bin Salman Education Charitable Trust chairman, Labour Fund (Tamkeen) chairman, and REHC chairman Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and other high-ranking officials.
The two Bahrain Turf Series races due to be held yesterday had to be postponed to next weekend following a malfunction in one of the sets of starting stalls.
The $80,000 Al Riffa Cup (sponsored by BBK), round two in the sprint division of the Bahrain Turf Series, and the $80,000 Al Dana Cup, the second round in the middle-distance division, will now be run on Friday next week.
The number of declared runners in both races would have required both sets of starting stalls to be used. Following the decision to postpone the races, the raceday stewards issued the following notice: “The damaged bank of stalls was unable to be repaired in time to be used for the remainder of the meeting, and as a consequence, the Stewards abandoned Race Seven (Al Dana Cup) and Race Eight (Al Riffa Cup), and these will be rescheduled for the meeting on Friday, 10th January.”
Goemon triumphed in the 1,600m Southern Governorate Cup race to take the lion’s share of the $14,000 total prize money. Byline was the runner-up for Al Adiyat Racing, AM Smith and Seamie Heffernan, while Pure Dreamer came third, also for Adiyat and Smith, with Lee Newman steering the seven-year-old. Watch My Tracer was the last winner of the prize money for Victorious and Fawzi Nass, George Scott, and Daniel Muscutt.
Meanwhile, Realm won the REHC Cup in race three, held over 1,800m with an $8,000 prize. Ebrahim Nader was in the saddle for the owner-trainer combination of Abdulrahim and Ebrahim. Authority finished in second for Abdulla Fawzi Nass, Fawzi Nass and Muscutt; Jerusalema came third for Abdulrahim, Ebrahim, and Sanna; and Fatal Obsession was fourth for M and E Racing, Smith, and Milan Zatloukal.
In the day’s fourth event for The Bahrain Jockey Academy Cup, covering 1,800m with a $8,000 prize, Elvogue won for Shaikh Isa bin Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, Abdulla Kuwaiti, and Abdulrahim Jasim, while California was the runner-up for Abdulla Sami Nass, Fawzi Nass, and Stephane Ladjadj. Lamie Jee came third for Adiyat, Smith, and Heffernan, while Mister Dollar was fourth for Al Mohamediya Racing, Ali Abdulmajeed, and PJ McDonald.
Also yesterday, Garsman won the Charles Russell Speechlys Cup in race two, held over 1,000m with $8,000 in winnings. Garsman competed for Abnaa Hani Al Marzooq, Osama Hashim, and Hussain Asghar. What A Business finished a narrow second for Jawad Abdulwahid Ahmed, Jaffar Radhi, and Abdulla Faisal; Mujtahid third for Mohamediya, Abdulmajeed, and Hasan Al Saffar; and The Thin Blue Line fourth, also for Mohamediya and Abdulmajeed, with McDonald in the saddle.
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