Achill Bay looks for repeat in season’s longest race

Meydan stages the final race meeting of 2011 this afternoon with two handicaps sharing top billing among the six races. The first of these is the Al Basti Equiworld Foran Cup, the longest race run in the UAE this season, over 2,800m. Satish Seemar won this event last season and looks to repeat the feat with Achill Bay. But he faces a big threat from Musabah Al Muhairi's Treble Jig, who had Achill Bay behind him when making a winning start over 2,400m on turf at Abu Dhabi. However, Seemar's stable jockey Richard Mullen was full of confidence and said: "I am very much looking forward to riding him on the Meydan [all-weather] over this kind of trip as he loves the surface and stays very well. "He has three good runs under his belt already this season, stepping up in trip each time and Saturday's race should be perfect for him. We are very hopeful." Wayne Smith, who rides Treble Jig, sounded a trifle defensive when he said: "Obviously the handicapper has had his say, but we were very pleased with Treble Jig. "He had been working very well on the [all-weather] before Abu Dhabi so I don't think that will be a problem. If he stays the extra 400m he will go very close." The weights are headed by champion trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe's Monte Alto and his jockey Richard Hills said: "Stamina is obviously a query but we know he stays 2,400m well and handles [the surface], so it is worth a try with him."