Al Rayhi pays tribute to Ertijaal after star sprinter suffers fatal colic

The UAE racing community has been rocked with the confirmation local sprint sensation, Ertijaal, arguably the most recognised horse based in the Emirates to have campaigned at the Dubai World Cup Carnival, died last Thursday after succumbing to colic.

Described by Jim Crowley as ‘an aeroplane’ after their victory in February’s Meydan Spring, the seven-year-old son of Oasis Dream won half of his 22 starts for owner and breeder Sheikh Hamdan.

His career started in Britain with William Haggas, winning the 7f Listed Spring Cup and a valuable three-year-old conditions contest on All-Weather Championship Finals Day at Lingfield in 2014.

Without joy in four more starts that year, including when down the field in the 2,000 Guineas, Ertijaal joined trainer Ali Rashid Al Rayhi and flourished in the UAE.

The star sprinter won eight of his 14 starts for Al Rayhi, including the last two runnings of the Meydan Sprint, while finishing second and third in the Al Quoz Sprint.

A setback ruled him out of the 2018 Al Quoz Sprint but he was reported in fine fettle prior to last week’s tragedy.

Ertijaal (right): winning at Meydan in February 2015Credit: Dubai Racing Club/Andrew Watkins

An emotional and distraught Al Rayhi said: “It's devastating, not just for me and my whole team but also Sheikh Hamdan, for whom Ertijaal was a real star.

“He was certainly one of the most popular horses in the UAE and, over 5f, one of the fastest in the world.

“Jim Crowley won the Meydan Sprint on him in 2017 and described him as ‘an aeroplane’, so fast was he, while Paul Hanagan was another just amazed by his natural speed. He's a horse we're never going to replace."

Speed king

Ertijaal mastered the 5f sprint turf course at Meydan like no other. He holds four of the eight fastest winning times, including the top two, with his course record of 55.90 seconds coming in the Meydan Sprint in 2017.

His second-best time – 56.02 seconds – was just as impressive under a big weight in a handicap in January, while the next two fastest winning times – 56.21 and 56.34 – were achieved in the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint in 2014 and 2016.

Ertijaal, who won almost £900,000 in prize-money for connections, boasts the second-fastest 6f turf time at Meydan.

He added: "It's a massive blow and particularly hard for his groom Mohammed Sheer and Mohammed Arshad who used to ride him most mornings.

“I'm very proud to have been associated with such a wonderful horse for Sheikh Hamdan and can only thank him for the opportunity and pass on our heartfelt condolences to him.

“Hopefully we can have a lot more success together in the future but there'll only ever be one Ertijaal.”

'His track record will be a hard one to lower'

Royston Ffrench rode Ertijaal on his initial UAE breakthrough victory over 7f.

Ffrench said: “Ali dropped him back to sprinting trips after I rode him and the rest, as they say, is history; he started winning regularly and never ran a bad race from Grandstand Stables.

“His 5f turf track record at Meydan will be a hard one to lower and it's a massive loss to Ali and his team, as well as to UAE racing.

“Ertijaal had established a following around the world and a reputation as one of the very fastest turf sprinters in training.”

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