Off and on course at the races

[caption id="attachment_49937" align="alignleft" width="345" caption="Racing in the rain on Sunday"][/caption]

The former Commodores front man has been plagued by ill health in recent years and was forced to pull out of recording sessions last year and major gigs at Hyde Park and in the USA with the Boston Pops Orchestra.
His withdrawal from his Newbury appearance at the start of a UK tour left Racecourse officials hurriedly arranging refunds a day before torrential rain and winds threatened to play havoc with the course’s annual Arabian free day.
And there was further concern at the start of that when jockey Leah Anne Avery fell from her mount Raihan settling into the stalls for the day’s opening race.
An ambulance was quickly on course for what was feared to be a serious neck injury, but the rider was later cleared of following a CT scan in hospital and was able to return home.
Racing was delayed by 30 minutes, but otherwise all went according to plan on the course on all three days with Moohaijam winning Saturday’s Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes under Adam Kirby while Sunday’s Arabian highlight - The Shadwell Dubai International Stakes - was won by Mu’azzazm, a third success of the day for trainer Julian Smart.