The James Owen trained Muneer emulated her dam in winning at the first time of asking, with a length and a quarter victory in the Emirates Breeders Maiden Stakes in association with ARO at Lingfield Park this afternoon. Despite veering out to the stands rails, the three-year-old filly survived a stewards enquiry to keep the race, winning from Al Khaleejy, another Shadwell juvenile debutant, with the more experienced Al Mahbooba, also trained by Owen in third.
This was her partner Kieran O’Neill’s first win on an Arabian, who commented after the race: “She jumped nicely, and we were very handy, following the pace the whole way through. Obviously she is still very, very green when we hit the front, but there’ll be plenty more improvement to come and hopefully she can build on that from here.”
Owen was pleased with the result for the stable saying: “That’s what it’s about, these three-year-olds get a lot of weight so that’s probably why those two came to the fore in the race. We’ve learnt more about Al Mahbooba now too. Muneer has only come alive the last few weeks, she’s really not done that much, just a few little bits of work, but what she’s done has been good, we weren’t here for an away day. Obviously, she was green up the straight, but she’s got plenty of ability and that’s our job now, to bring these youngsters on.”
The mile contest was part of a series of races sponsored by the Emirates Breeders that supports UK Arabian racing through maidens, conditions races and a variety of handicaps to cater for all levels.
Genny Haynes, ARO Commercial and Finance Director said: “We congratulate Shadwell Estates for another convincing success with their homebreds, her dam Salaama was a Group winner as a juvenile and hopefully Muneer can live up to the family tradition.
“ARO would like to thank the Emirates Breeders for joining with us in supporting this race and we look forward to the Emirates Breeders Handicap at Doncaster on 5th June. We also thank the British Horseracing Authority and all the team at Lingfield Park for their assistance and support of our racing in 2021.”
