Horse racing resumed in the UAE yesterday afternoon with a six-race card at Jebel Ali where owner Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Mak­toum enjoyed a double, highlighted by the victory of Fityaan in the fea­tured 1,000 metre handicap.

Ridden by Dane O’Neill, the owner’s second retained jockey, the Musabah Al Muhairi-trained Fit­yaan was always travelling well and demolished his seven opponents.

O’Neill said: “This fellow has run some great races in defeat here at Jebel Ali – including two seconds in the Jebel Ali Sprint – so it was great everything fell right for him today.

“We actually missed the break a bit today but after that I was always happy.”

The jockey went on to complete a double for the owner with vic­tory for the Erwan Charpy-trained Kahruman in the concluding 1,400m handicap.

The season started in perfect fashion for Champion Jockey Tad­hg O’Shea, who made virtually all in the opening 1,950m handicap on the Doug Watson-trained Mizbah.

O’Shea said: “I was allowed to dic­tate the gallop and then he has re­ally responded when I asked him.”

Mizbah’s victory was achieved at the expense of Street Act, seek­ing to win the first race of the sea­son for the second year running for trainer Ali Rashid Al Rahie and sta­ble jockey Royston Ffrench.

However, the Ffrench and Al Raihe combination wasted little time opening their seasonal ac­count with the victory of Need To Know in a 1,600m handicap.

The other races on the card, a 1,000m maiden and a 1,200m hand­icap, were won by Marhi, trained by Mohd Ramadan and ridden by Carlos Sanchez, and Glenleven respectively. The latter was trained by Satish Seemar and ridden by sta­ble jockey Richard Mullen.

The action continues at Sharjah this afternoon with a six-race card, including one Thoroughbred con­test, a 2,000m handicap for which 12 have been declared.

Local debutant Estifzaaz, trained by Ali Rashid Al Raihe and the mount of Dane O’Neill appear an interesting contender with Shihab and Diwaan perhaps his biggest challengers.