Six horse races and six rides for jockey Paul Hanagan at Jebel Ali

British champion to make Emirates season debut onboard The Taj and a Watson-trained trio, but could also win opener with Dairam at Jebel Ali Racecourse, writes Amith Passela.

Jockey Paul Hanagan will be onboard some fancied runners on Friday and could get off the mark straightaway at Jebel Ali Racecourse. Satish Kumar / The National

Paul Hanagan, the retained jockey for Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, makes his first appearance of the Emirates racing season and looks to have a busy afternoon with rides in all six races on Friday at Jebel Ali racecourse. The two-time British champion will be onboard some fancied runners and could get off the mark straightaway.

He partners Dairam in the opener, a handicap for horses rated 60-85 run over 1,400m. The three-year-old bay son of Jazil, the 2006 Belmont Stakes winner in the United States, is making his UAE debut for his new handler Musabah Al Muhairi.

Dairam, formerly trained by Charles Hills in Britain, comes with some useful European form. He was runner-up four times before winning his first race, a maiden, in his second to last start, and was a close third in the next. It will be his first start in more than five months as well as first time on dirt. If he can handle these two concerns, he will be hard to beat in the field that has drawn the maximum 16 runners.

The main challenge to Dairam is set to come from a quartet that has won over the course and distance — Momaris, trained on the track by Dhruba Selvaratnam and ridden by James Doyle, Baransky (Satish Seemar-Richard Mullen), Journalistic (Mohammed Ibrahim-Jesus Rosales), and First Knight (Doug Watson-Noel Garbutt).

Hanagan’s next ride is also on a newcomer The Taj, formerly trained by Richard Hannon and now under the care of Doug Watson in Dubai, before he guides Al Muhairi’s Kanaf later on in the most valuable race on the card.

The six-year-old gelding has a win on the course over the 1,200m distance and reappearing for the first time in the season finished fourth to stable companion Muarrab.

“He will have the benefit of a run but it has been nearly two years since he won a race. So this will again be a very tough ask but we are hopeful,” Al Muhairi said.

Selvaratnam’s Yaa Wayl and Otaared head the seven-runner field with the latter seeking a seventh course win.

“Yaa Wayl has not been with us all that long but is a nice horse,” said Selvaratnam of the former Godolphin runner. “He should run well.”

Hanagan’s other rides are the Watson trained trio Moodhill, Mushreq, and Maqaraat.

Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE