The gigantic fluffy cloud of euphoria that all the lads and lasses have spent the last two weeks floating on has now dissipated leaving in its wake a new normal and more settled way of everyday life. For most this means a 4.00 am start, some to jump on the shuttle bus laid on by the ERA to ferry them between their accommodations and the International Stables. And for the lucky ones, although it won’t always seem that way in reality, who have a car leave just as early to negotiate their way around Dubai’s confusing road system whilst probably silently wishing they were on the bus too ! Getting lost on route is part of every day life for all newcomers here even with modern day sat-nav phones!
But on arrival there is something magical about that oh so early stroll down to the barns in the darkness, the silence only broken by the chirping of crickets and the low key “good morning” greetings from colleagues. So the day begins. Horses are inspected for keenness of appetite and soundness of limbs. Decisions made as to what the mornings training regime is to involve. The choices here are many; a trip to the main racetrack to canter around under the dazzling gaze of the worlds largest grandstand, or to the relaxing surroundings of the immaculate training track, a swim in the equine pool, a roll in the sandpit or a lead out by hand and a pick of the amazingly well maintained luscious grass. Some equine athletes will also have the luxury of a massage rug placed on their backs and will be given physio sessions much the same as a human athlete would. The horses here want for nothing and nothing is left to chance in the endeavour of producing them on race night in a relaxed and happy state of mind but also at the peak of their powers.
After the first Carnival meeting last Thursday there will inevitably have been a few disappointed people who’s horses didn’t preform as well as everyone had hoped they would. There will have been a myriad of reasons, the track being one especially if it was the first run on the dirt surface which can take a while to acclimatise too. But some may not have recovered sufficiently from the travelling even though all the outward signs were positive. And of course there will have been those whose race did not go to plan or whose stalls draw did not suit their running style. A whole host of mitigating circumstances to contend with. But whatever the reasons we need to always remember that horses like us mortals sometimes have a day when they don’t feel so good. Happily the flip side of this coin is that there were some contented connections whose charges went well enough to give rise to great anticipation for next time out.
Last week was incredibly successful for both local trainers and jockeys with Ali Al Raihe’s four winners, Tadgh O’Shea’s treble, a double for Pat Dobbs and a very well deserved Carnival winner for Sam Hitchcott. In this weeks meeting we witnessed an emotional treble for Satish Seemar who brought the the much revered Reynaldothewizard back to win the Dubawi Stakes for an unprecedented third time aged ten and earlier his eleven year old Tiznowtizthen took the opening event. A training achievement not to be underestimated.
We surely saw the UAE Oaks winner in Polar River who went in over a second faster than the colts, Promising Run is good but no match for the winner and the smile on Doug Watsons face said it all. This great Sport of Kings gives us ecstatic highs and humble lows, this night was the high category. No European win yet but it won’t be long.
