Talk from the Track

A day at Jebel Ali Racecourse is a day unlike any other. As I turn off the main road and head up the incline towards the cluster of white-and-yellow painted buildings, I am caught off guard at the sun ray’s glinting off the ocean of cars in the public parking lot in front of me, the first reminder of just how popular this horse racing venue is.

The people are flocking to the buses that are laid on to take them up to the track’s main entrance.

It’s nearly 25 years since the first horses raced up the legendary hill and although the roads and and buildings that surround it are creeping ever closer I have no doubts about it surviving for at least another twenty five years. Under the watchful eye of the astute Racing Manager Dhruba Selvaratnam, this special course has grown and thrived.

The locals flock here to both watch the horseracing and and enjoy the alternative entertainment that is often part of the afternoon’s fun and maybe be the recipient of one of the Jebel Ali yellow hats, t-shirts or umbrellas that are periodically handed out. There is always the possibility of more joy with the numerous raffle prizes and the big one, a brand new car on offer. All this as well as the inevitable pick six.

Before the racing starts, there is entertainment in the form of a Brazilian style band followed by local bagpipe players. It’s certainly different from what we might see in England and all the more refreshing for that.

The racing kicked off with Doug Watson’s Ferguson absolutely slooshing up by nearly 10 lengths in the seven furlong handicap. Although in a low grade race, this was a huge step up on all previous form in his native country and I think we can expect more to come.

The Derrinstown Stud-sponsored Jebel Ali Mile was the main event of the day. The Group 3 event was fully expected to go to the home team’s Forjatt but unfortunately the script did not go to plan and the race was won in good style by Erwan Charpy trained and Paul Hanagan ridden 20/1 outsider Sefri. We were all left wondering if the result would have been different had Forjatt’s jockey not been deprived of his whip just as he was asking his horse for maximum effort.

Personally, I feel it was an enormous disadvantage as Forjatt is a very game horse who travelled into the race very smoothly and the more his jockey asks the more he gives especially in the closing stages or a tight finish. There was some compensation for Selvaratnam in the last race with Chris Hayes steering his Morawij home to an easy success exactly as the trainer had predicted earlier in the week.

The conclusion of racing was swiftly followed by the raffle prizes and there were many squeals and shouts of delight as winners were called out. So many happy people all looking forward to the next race meeting at Jebel Ali and one especially lucky person driving home in a brand new car.

— The author is a former trainer from the UK and the mother of leading international jockeys James and Sophie Doyle.