Buick purring over Alo Pura run

Alo Pura, left, ridden by William Buick, wins the Al Tayer Motors at Meydan Racecourse last night.

DUBAI // With Al Tayer Motors sponsoring the fifth meeting of the season at Meydan Racecourse it was somewhat appropriate that Alo Pura motored to a 1,200m track record in the featured race of the evening - the Al Tayer Motors.

The daughter of Anabaa, trained by Dhruba Selvaratnam, was ridden by William Buick, who said: "She is a better mare in this type of race as they go quick and give her a good tow. She quickened well. It was a good performance."

The 1,400m Ford Mustang Trophy, a conditions race for three-year-olds, produced a surprise winner in the shape of Comradeship, who finally justified the high regard in which he is held by Rashed Bouresly, his trainer. It was a first winner in the UAE for jockey Erhan Yavuz.

The 1,200m handicap, the Ford Taurus Trophy, was won impressively by Ali Rashid al Raihe's Green Beret, who made virtually every yard of the running under Royston Ffrench. It was a deserved win for the horse who had been placed on both previous outings.

The meeting opened with a 1,900m maiden, the Ford Explorer Trophy, and the Satish Seemar-trained Treachery was able to confirm the promise he had shown on his UAE debut at Sharjah. Runner-up on that occasion, he went one better to the delight of his trainer.

The trainer doubled up when apprentice Harry Bentley took the 1,600m Ford Edge Trophy on Western Adventure. Settled well off the pace, the pair made smooth progress to lead close home.

"He was always going like the winner and I was very confident a long way out," said Bentley.

Racing concluded with a 2,200m handicap, the Ford Fusion Trophy, and Pearly King bounced back to form with victory under David Smith for trainer Musabah Al Muhairi.