The South African Lategan leads his Saudi rival by 2 1/2 minutes going into the 11th and penultimate stage in the Empty Quarter dunes
Friday’s last stage is a ceremonial drive to the finish in Shubaytah
SHUBAYTAH: Henk Lategan and Yazeed Al-Rajhi will duel in the Saudi sand for their first Dakar Rally title after swapping the lead for a second straight day Wednesday.
The South African Lategan leads his Saudi rival by 2 1/2 minutes going into the 11th and penultimate stage in the Empty Quarter dunes. Friday’s last stage is a ceremonial drive to the finish in Shubaytah.
Al-Rajhi led by seven minutes before the 10th stage, a tricky 120-kilometer loop south of Shubaytah on Wednesday. But he got stuck and relinquished the overall lead back to Lategan.
“We got stuck because we were taking it easy,” Al-Rajhi said. “Everything is going good, that’s the most important (thing). I have a good position, I hope.”
Lategan also took it easy but without finding any trouble, and was 10th on the stage, making up minutes on all of his nearest pursuers.
“It wasn’t the plan to go quickly today,” Lategan said.
On Thursday, he will start 10th and Al-Rajhi 27th and they can push harder by taking advantage of the tracks of those in front.
’Most disappointing day of my life’
Third-placed Mattias Ekström fell two minutes further back to 27 minutes, and five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah lost five minutes to drop back to 30.
Al-Attiyah, the only former champion with an outside title shot, got lost about nine kilometers in.
“I’m very disappointed, but what can you do?” Al-Attiyah said. “We had a good pace but we lost a lot of time. This is the most disappointing day of my life.”
Spain’s Nani Roma, one of only three men to win the Dakar in a car (2014) and motorbike (2004), won his first stage in nine years by 18 seconds from Lucas Moraes of Brazil. Brian Baragwanath of South Africa was third.
Sanders on the brink
Australian rider Daniel Sanders was on the brink of his first Dakar title in a motorbike race he’s dominated from stage one.
Sanders was fourth on the 116-kilometer stage but ahead of his nearest rivals, extending his overall lead by about two minutes against Spain’s Tosha Schareina and France’s Adrien van Beveren.
The advantage over Schareina was 16 1/2 minutes, the biggest in the race so far.
“It’s pretty much survival tomorrow and just getting through,” Sanders said. “I think we’ll be all right. I felt really good in the navigation and I was opening a little bit and then, yeah, it felt nice. So yeah, ready for tomorrow.”
Portugal’s Rui Gonçalves won his maiden stage in his fifth Dakar by nearly four minutes from Slovakia’s Stefan Svitko. American Skyler Howes was third.
Dakar Rally comes down to a duel in the sand between Lategan and Al-Rajhi
Dakar Rally comes down to a duel in the sand between Lategan and Al-Rajhi
Ancestral Land heads King Khalid University Cup
- Progressive sprinter will be among field of 20 on Saturday at King Abdulaziz Racecourse
RIYADH: Ancestral Land (GB) was a sprinting success story last season and reemerges for a new campaign by heading a full-field of 20 runners in Saturday’s $40,000 (SR150,000) King Khalid University Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse.
The Red Stable of Prince Faisal Bin Khalid Bin Abdulaziz is well represented in the 1,400 meter event with three runners and the mount of Nawaf Al-Mudiani is by far the pick, having left Clive Cox in the UK before registering four wins in Riyadh last term.
His final success came with a comprehensive victory in the Dirt Sprint Qualifier in January before finishing sixth to the Breeders’ Cup winner Straight No Chaser (US) in the Group 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint on Saudi Cup weekend.
The six-year-old will also be having his first outing for Sultan Bin Jalal having formerly been in the care of US conditioner Jimmy Jerkens.
His main dangers would appear to be Luis Morales’ mount Love De Vega (IRE), who was also progressive last season — finishing third in the 1351 Sprint Qualifier — and has his first start since winning in March, along with the Adel Al-Fouraidi-ridden Power Of Beauty (IRE), who was eighth in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint.
Saturday also features two stand-out races for three-year-olds and Camilo Ospina takes the mount of November’s impressive winner Zanaat (KSA) for the White Stable of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz in the $40,000 Ministry of Sports Cup for fillies over 1,800 meters.
The equivalent race for colts and geldings is the 1,600 meter $40,000 Saudi Broadcasting Authorities Cup for which 17 will go to post, and Tuwajeri (IRE) is top-rated for jockey Muhammad Al-Daham, trainer Thamer Al-Daihani and owner Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Al-Malek Al-Sabah.
A competitive Open over 1,800 meters worth $32,000 rounds off Saturday’s card in which Al-Fouraidi and the Red Stable have an excellent chance with Painters Palette (IRE), who bids to follow up a recent five-and-a-quarter length victory.
Friday’s action is dominated by The Primary Champion of the Racecourses Sponsored by The JCSA — which are a series of three different races and sit alongside the Prince Fahad Bin Jalawi Cup and the Prince Abdullah Bin Jalawi Cup. All are worth a valuable $80,000.
The former is over 1,200 meters for older horses and has a field of seven headed by two highly-rated runners in Al-Daihani’s Muqtahem (IRE), who bids for a fifth win on the bounce, and Red Stable runner Zefzaf (US), who got back to winning ways on Dec. 19.
The latter race is for three-year-old fillies over 1,400 meters and features Sioux Perfect (IRE), who left Andrew Balding in the UK to join trainer Nawaf Al-Daihani and built on her underwhelming debut to score last weekend.
A maximum field has been declared for the Primary Champion of the Racecourses for four-year-old fillies over 1,800 meters topped by Ableekh (KSA) and Okht Saham (KSA), while 16 have been declared for the Purebred Arabian version of the Primary Champions race over 2,000 meters open to both sexes.
Top rated in that are Al-Komndaan (KSA) and Midhass (KSA), while Nijinski Al-Maury (FR), Saif Barzan (KSA) and Al-Kaaser (FR) are the standouts in the all-aged event over 1,800 meters.
