Sport | Horse Racing
UAE racing season begins
First race at futuristic project will be held on January 28 next year
- By M. Satya Narayan, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:00 November 6, 2009
- Image Credit: Gulf News archive
- With racing in recess since the end of March, horsemen will be keen to get back into action.
Abu Dhabi: With Nad Al Sheba now history the racing fraternity will reassemble today at the Jebel Ali Race Course for the start of what will be a season that will lift the sport to a new level once action starts on the futuristic Meydan Racecourse in January next year.
Jebel Ali, which opens the UAE racing season for the first time since the 2002-03 season, is the first part of a triple-header scheduled for the weekend with Sharjah making a return as a race venue tomorrow and the turf in Abu Dhabi starting off with their first race on Sunday.
After Nad Al Sheba staged its last event with the Dubai World Cup race meeting in March this year, construction of the remaining part of the Meydan City and the Meydan Racecourse has been in full swing. However, with the first race on the Meydan Racecourse set for January 28, 2010, the early part of the 2009-10 season will see action in Abu Dhabi, Jebel Ali and Sharjah.
According to the race fixtures list for the 2009-10 racing season approved by Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the Emirates Racing Authority, Abu Dhabi will stage a total of 17 race meetings, Jebel Ali will be much busier than the past with 14 meetings while Sharjah returns with four race meetings.
The cream of this season's racing — the Dubai International Racing Carnival — will start on January 28 with the seventh edition of the Dubai International Racing Carnival (DIRC).
This season's Dubai International Racing Carnival will see a total of ten races which will attract some of the best horses currently in racing and culminate in the 15th running of the world's richest race - the Dubai World Cup - on Saturday, March 27, 2010.
Commenting on the Meydan Racecourse, Dubai Racing Club CEO Frank Gabriel Jr said, "In the seven years since the initial Dubai International Racing Carnival was staged, there have been many poignant moments, from spectacular victories and nail-biting near misses, to the revelation that plans had been put into place to build the ultimate horse racing venue."
Emirates Racing Authority Board member Malih Lahej Al Basti added, "The 2010 DIRC is not only a highlight for the international racing community, but also a source of local pride with the opening of Meydan Racecourse.
"This state-of-the-art complex will not only complement the growing global appeal of Dubai as a racing destination, but also build on the indigenous passion for horses embedded in UAE culture," he said.
Jebel Ali set to start proceedings
Jebel Ali Racecourse hosts the return of racing for a new UAE season with a six race card this afternoon. Sharjah follows tomorrow with a seven race programme, and Abu Dhabi will complete the weekend hosting six events on Sunday evening.
With racing in recess since the end of March, horsemen will be keen to get back into action with Champion Trainer Doug Watson possibly the man to follow at Jebel Ali.
He saddles Hammadi who heads the weights in the featured third race, 1,000-metre conditions sprint sponsored by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance's Shadwell organisation. The four-year-old, to be ridden by Tadhg O'Shea, has to give weight all-round courtesy his victory in last season's Jebel Ali Sprint over the same course and distance. He will carry the colours of owner Malih Al Basti.
Leading chances
The Emirates Racing Association Board Member will also link with Watson and O'Shea with Al Sadeek in the opening 1,200-metre handicap and Bur Dubai in the following 1,200-metre maiden. Both also hold leading chances in their respective events.
Watson said: "It is nice to get them back on the track and we have a few decent chances certainly. The horses are ready for a race though and may well improve for these initial outings."
Bur Dubai's main dangers may come from the Rashid Boursley prepared duo, juvenile Brave Mambo and year older stable companion Charles Dickens. Boursley also introduces UAE debutant Lightning Flash in the featured sprint and he could prove dangerous on his belated return to action.
Satish Seemar's Escape Route and Ali Rashid Al Raihe's Sea Hunter, both owned by Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain, Wife of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, are others to consider in the feature.
Dahteer, trained on the track by Dhruba Selvaratnam, should make a bold bid to defy top-weight in the fourth race, a 1,400-metre handicap, under William Buick.
Effort, on his first start for Abdullah Bin Huzaim, could be the leading threat, while Selvaratnam and Buick should again go close with For Once in the following 1,600-metre handicap. Like Dahteer, he sports the famous yellow silks of Shaikh Ahmad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Bin Huzaim may again supply the main danger in Planetary Motion.
Racing concludes with a 1,950-metre handicap in which Watson saddles three, though they may have to give way to Ali Rashid Al Raihe's Rochdale, and Selvaratnam's Dig Gold will also be a tough nut to crack.
Saturday's Sharjah meeting includes two Thoroughbred contests along with five ultra competitive Purebred Arabian races.
Dominant Doug eyes hat-trick
Champion trainer Doug Watson, who will complete a hat-trick if he bags the trainer's championship this season, says he is just hoping to have a good run from his team.
Watson, who mostly trains horses owned by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, and Malih Lahej Al Basti, told Gulf News: "Winning a championship is never a goal at the start of the season. In fact, looking at the horses we have in the stable, on the ground now, it will be very difficult to win the championship this year."
Watson, who retained the trainer's championship in 2008-09 after winning it in 2007-08, was also second in 2006-07 to Satish Seemar while he won it in 2005-06 while the season before that he was again runner-up to Mazin Al Kurdi.
"Every year we do not get many new horses. Most of the early racing is in Jebel Ali, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi while most of the horses we won with last year are up in the ratings. So chances are less for them but we are still hopeful of a good season," the ace trainer said.
New ones
We do have a few new ones for Shaikh Hamdan. Al Basti and a couple more will be coming. Otherwise most of the horses are from the team that did well last year. We also have a few like Barbecue Eddie that came last season but came late. I am also looking to a good show from Kalahari Gold, also from Shaikh Hamdan," Watson said.
Watson, who has around 75 horses in training so far this season, says he is also looking to a good display from the eight Purebred Arabians that he trains.
"Last year we had some good success from Kandar Du Falgas, Paris Gagner, Nirwan and Kaolino. I also have a three-year-old from America called Quite A Show, owned by Shaikh Hamdan. We are looking for him to do well. Seems on paper to be a good horse, will be in next week," Watson said.
Though Watson will have a lot of runners initially, it is the Carnival that he will be looking for. The horses are coming on slowly but surely. We are looking hopefully to win a few Carnival races," said Watson, who has been a dominant figure in the UAE's domestic season for the last five years.
Purebred Arabians to get boost in capital
The turf course at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club has in the recent years been staging more races for the Purebred Arabians, and the new season, which opens on Sunday, will be no exception.
This season the Purebred Arabian races here in the capital as well as the UAE are likely to get a huge boost with a new series for locally-bred horses unveiled by the Emirates Equestrian Federation, while the Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Festival will also boost the Arabian racing.
"The UAE has seen a huge rise in the number of UAE nationals getting involved with horse racing, particularly with Purebred Arabians which is part of our culture and heritage," said Taleb D aher Al Muhairi, Secretary General of the Emirates Equestrian Federation (EEF).
"Starting from November 8, the EEF has planned to stage races for three-year-old Purebred Arabian horses that have been bred locally in the UAE. This will be another major step in supporting and giving an opportunity to the owners, breeders and trainers of these locally bred horses," Al Muhairi said.
Meanwhile, most of the other Group races in all the racing venues will pit Purebred Arabian horses from neighbouring countries and those here in the UAE and will culminate in the Kahayla Classic on Dubai World Cup night.
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