Dubai The call for the expansion of the UAE flat-racing season just got louder, and more urgent, with a racing pioneer lending his voice to the rising chorus that want to see the calendar extended beyond the Dubai World Cup.
Ali Khamis Al Jafleh, who helped set up horse racing in the country during the early nineties, believes that the addition of more races per day, or even additional race days, are very much the need of the hour given the unprecedented growth that the sport has experienced in recent years.
“I strongly believe that we should have more race meetings in the UAE,” he said during a press gathering at the Jebel Ali Racecourse, who are currently celebrating its 25th anniversary year.
“The season ends all too soon and too abruptly. There is scope for a bigger schedule, like we had in the old days. I don’t see why not, keeping the large local-based racing population in mind. It’s just a question of changing the mind-set.
“It’s not about the heat, the jockeys, and the logistics. It can be done and I think it is something that the racing authorities need to look into seriously.”
Al Jafleh, who also proposed the Jebel Ali Racecourse introduced night racing and increased the prize money in order to keep up with the times, was joined by Derby-winning owner Khalifa Bin Dasmal, GCC champion jockey Aziz Al Redha, Grand national-winning jockey and veteran racing administrator Pat Buckley and long-serving trainers Dhruba Selvaratnam, Satish Seemar and Erwan Charpy in a concerted cry out for the extension of the UAE racing calendar.
“We seem to be all in this together and whether we are lucky on not, we could certainly do with more race meeting, particularly at Jebel Ali,” said Bin Dasmal, a former UAE national tennis champion in the eighties who won the Epsom Derby in 1996 with Shaamit as an owner.
“We used to race in the old days until the third week of April. All we ask is that the authorities add at least until two weeks to the calendar, after the Dubai World Cup. They can be ordinary races but for good horses that are trained here and owned by smaller owners.
“I’m sure everyone will welcome the move and support it.”
UAE champion trainers Selvaratnam, Seemar and Charpy all supported the proposals that have been heard for a long time now.
“From a trainer’s point of view, and I’m sure my colleagues agree with me, at the end of the season we are always frustrated that we don’t have enough racing for our horses,” the Zabeel Stables boss said. “It’s a short season but a conversation like this is the way forward, a very positive way, and I think we should do something about it.”
Selvaratnam, who has for long petitioned for more opportunities for locally-based trainers said: “I don’t see why we can’t race during April, all the other Gulf countries do.
“I don’t believe that the heat is an issue either. More domestic race meetings, which we at Jebel Ali will be delighted to stage, will help encourage more owners to get involved.”
Mirza Al Sayegh, Director of the Office of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, and a long-time supporter of racing at Jebel Ali Racecourse, welcomed the appeal for the expansion of the racing season.
“We currently have 11 race meetings at Jebel Ali each season and Shadwell [Shaikh Hamdan’s breeding arm] is represented at 10 of them,” he noted. “I can assure you that Shaikh Hamdan will be happy to support and sponsor the remaining race days should the authorities approve.
“Sponsors want more races, the trainers wants more races, everybody is in favour of more races so I would appreciate if the authorities give us as least two more days.”
Buckley, the Racing Manager & Technical Adviser, to the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club (ADEC) who won the Grand National in 1963 with Ayala, was in consensus with the debate but called for more races for Purebred Arabians.
ERA representative Yasir Mabrouk suggested that the desire to have more race meetings were legitimate but could have greater ramifications.
“A lot goes into the expansion of a racing season, and not just logistically,” he said. “The climate has changed dramatically in recent years and there are the issues of not having sufficient jockeys around after the Dubai World Cup.
“However, it is a decision that has to be taken at a higher level before the additional meetings are implemented.”
