Dubai: English flat-racing jockey Harry Bentley is all set for his Dubai World Cup night debut this Saturday after a watershed third season in the UAE.
The baby-faced 20-year-old from Storrington, West Sussex, has ridden 17 UAE winners and one in Qatar so far this winter.
These included the first two Group One wins of his career: the President’s Cup on Naseem and the Emirates Championship on Musharab, both purebred Arabians owned by Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and trained by Majid Al Jahouri.
These successes follow his 2010/11 apprentice haul of 17 UAE victories followed by a conservative 10 wins in 2011/12, after losing his claim (*see below).
Bentley rode 13 winners in his first season in England in 2010 and returned home from the UAE to record 48 more in 2011, when he finished third in the British Apprentice Jockey Championship.
Rides with Naseem in the Kahayla Classic and Medicean Man — owned by Stuart and Kate Dobbs and trained by Jeremy Gask — in the Al Quoz Sprint (G1), will now give him the chance to underline his re-emergence as a fully-fledged jockey ahead of a pivotal third season in Europe.
“It’s a big deal racing on a night like this,” Bentley told Gulf News. “I’m not nervous, more excited.
“In the days leading up to the race, I’ll look to see where the other horses like to run and what I’d like to be doing as the race pans out. But the draw has a lot to do with it and things never quite go to plan,” he added.
“Naseem has got to have a good chance having won the President’s Cup and having come third on Super Saturday, while Medicean Man didn’t have much room to manoeuvre in his last race, so we’ll be looking for more luck this time.”
Of his success so far this season, Bentley, who skipped his A-levels to take his jockey’s licence at the age of 16, having ridden horses since he was four, said: “This is my best season out here to date, as the quality of race wins have been far better than the previous two years.
“My first Group One victories were very important to me and it’s great to have already achieved a Group One win at my age.
“It’s a bit different having won it over here, as England is a completely different stage. But that said, it’s still a very important achievement that helps get your name out there,” said Bentley, who is now managed by Chubby Chandler, of International Sports Management (ISM), whose stable includes major golf champions Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Darren Clarke plus former world and European No 1 Lee Westwood.
Having first joined Satish Seemar in the UAE upon the recommendation of his former boss Gary Moore, Bentley added: “I came here purely to experience different tracks, surfaces and jockeys who have a different style of racing. Any experience, no matter what field you are in, is always going to help.”
Looking ahead to his third season in England, which starts on April 23 in Doncaster, where he’s on a retainer for the UAE’s Ahmad Al Shaikh and Qatar’s Shaikh Fahad Al Thani, Bentley said: “I would like to record my best season so far in England and get at least 50 winners. To have a Group One win there is a big thing to want, but raising the quality of wins is definitely the goal.
“One day I’d like to be champion jockey. That’s the one thing most young British jockeys aspire to achieve. We’ve got five English Classics in a year and getting just one of those would be massive,” said Bentley.
“I’m lucky enough to have had plenty of opportunities, because at the end of the day you’ve got to ride good horses to get wins. It’s a fickle sport, and if you don’t have wins others won’t use you — but so far so good.”
*Losing his claim
The term losing your claim refers to when a jockey can no longer be considered an apprentice. During their apprenticeship, a jockey can “claim” 7lbs (3kg) in weight taken off the horse until they have 20 wins, 5lbs (2kg) until they have 50 wins and 3lbs (1kg) until they have 95 wins. Bentley said: “In 2011/12 I came out here and had a much quieter year and only had 10 wins. But the reason was that I had lost my claim. It’s harder then because you’re always going to have that lag in rides and winners.”
