A 6-year-old gelding by Montjeu, Montpellier upset the featured third race on Friday’s card at Jebel Ali, defeating a balanced field of 14 over 1,200 meters. Off a rating of 88, Montpellier won the open conditions affair, sponsored by Shadwell, by 1.5 lengths over Doug Watson trainees Green Coast and Bounty Quest. The victory was the first half of a treble on the afternoon for trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe and jockey Royston Ffrench, who also took down the top prize in the 100,000AED Al Shafar Group Handicap with Jet Express and the second race of the day with Ab Include.
Montpellier’s victory was his first win since May 2007 when he landed a one mile handicap over the all-weather surface at Kempton Park. He was second beaten a neck in a 70-95 rated handicap on November 13 but faced stiffer competition on Friday and rose to the challenge.