Looking to atone for a defeat at the hands of Egyptian last week, the strapping five-year-old son of A.P. Indy ran well, if a bit keen in the early stages of the race, before he hit the front at the 400-metre mark to come away and beat top weight Bo Bid by two and three quarters of a length in the Chinese Treasure Cup over 1600 metres.

Trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe, delighted with the effort, said that the horse would now take his chance in the featured event on the opening day of the 2005 Dubai International Racing Carnival on January 20.

"He is a very consistent horse with a lot of ability," said Al Raihe, who took his tally of winners for the season to 12.

"He is still improving and I think he deserves to run in a race like the Maktoum Challenge.Dean Mernagh, who partnered the winner, commented: "He's still learning. Initially he was pretty keen. But he picked up nicely and finished the race really well.

"He's very young mentally, but there's nothing wrong with him physically. He's a big strong horse. Hopefully he can progress and win some nice races.

"Mernagh went on to complete a double, along with four-time UAE champion jockey Ted Durcan, when he teamed up with the Paddy Rudkin-trained Alton to win the Mughl-E-Azam Cup.

Thrown in at the weights, the five-year-old grey produced the goods for Mernagh, even as the aristocratically named Sir Edwin Landseer was shaping like a winner under Gary Hind as front runner Machynleth was fading under the urgings of Hong Kong rider Stanley Chin.As the line came up it was Alton who had the edge and won by half a length from Sir Edwin Landseer.

Paddy Rudkin, a long-timer trainer in the UAE, was thrilled with the win, his fourth for the campaign, and said: "I'm very pleased with that effort. He's such a genuine horse and he deserves this win.

"We knew at the weights that we would have a chance. But it was close."Durcan's double helped him steal a two-point lead over an absent Willie Supple in the race for the jockey's championship.

The Irishman, a four-time champion here, won back-to-back races, including the featured Al Nasr Leisureland and Cyclone Cup over 1,600 metres with the very resilient Delude.Following a second place, earlier in the evening, Durcan was at his championship-winning best when riding a well-judged race aboard the Mazin Al Kurdi-trained Delude.

A big kudos to Al Kurdi for keeping the seven-year-old son of Be My Guest in peak form this season which has yielded three wins from eights starts.

But Durcan was at his classic best when driving top weight Attentive down the gap on the rails to win the Khazana Cup over 2,000 metres, from a seemingly hopeless position.

Attentive, who had won his first start in 27 races last week, maintained that form to deny Classicist by one-and-a-quarter length.

Results

1st race. Al Nasr Leisureland Cup
Purebred Arabians 5yo+ rated 60-90 1,800m (Dirt):
1. Sarrab (trained by Y Carter Jr) P Smullen; 2. Djelmane (D Watson) R Hills; 3. Winner Du Causse.
Distances: 5 length, 1.75.
Time: 2min 06.70secs.

2nd race. Chinese Treasure Cup
Thoroughbreds 3yo+ Limited Conditions 1,600 (Dirt):
1. Alma'arry (A Al Raihe) D Mernagh; 2. Bo Bid (M Al Kurdi) T Durcan; 3. Maqadeer (R Bouresly) D Hayse.
Distances: 2.75length, Sh.
Time: 1min 40.40secs.

3rd race. Cyclone Cup
Thoroughbreds 3yo+ rated 45-75 1,600m (Dirt):
1. Janadel (D Watson) M Hussey; 2. Pfennig (R Simpson) J Panas; 3. My Pleasure (M Al Kurdi) T Durcan.
Distances: 0.75length, 2.25.
Time: 1min 40.35secs.

4th race. Mughl-E-Azam CupThoroughbreds 3yo+ rated 55-85 1,200m (Dirt):
1. Alton (P Rudkin) D Mernagh; 2. Sir Edwin Landseer (C Wroe) G Hind; 3. Machynleth (M Al Muhairi) S Chin.
Distances: 0.5length, 2.
Time: 1min 12.42secs.

5th race. Al Nasr Leisureland & Cyclone CupThoroughbreds 3yo+ rated 60-90 1,600m (Dirt):
1. Delude (M Al Kurdi) T Durcan; 2. Egyptian (R Bouresly) P Smullen; 3. Modrik (E Charpy) R Hills.
Distances: 2.75length, 3.5.
Time: 1min 39.27secs.

6th race.
Khazana CupThoroughbreds 3yo+ rated 60-85 2,000m (Dirt):
1. Attentive (S Seemar) T Durcan; 2. Classicist (D Watson) G Hind; 3. Dawn Piper (D Watson) P Dobbs.
Distances: 1.25length, 0.5.
Time: 2min 08.39secs.

On track
- A spare ride provided Irish rider Michael Hussey with his first winner of the season yesterday. Dublin-born Hussey, 22, was a last minute replacement for former UAE champion jockey Willie Supple who reportedly missed his flight from Heathrow yesterday. Hussey grabbed the opportunity with two hands, literally, and rode Janadel to victory in Cyclone Cup.

-Veteran trainer Paddy Rudkin, who patience was seriously tested by a string of 11 second places since his last winner, was finally rewarded when Dean Mernagh rode Alton to take the Mughl-E-Azam Cup. Rudkin's last win came with Valdancer on December 23.