Feeling good after first win of the year

Dubai: Most trainers will tell you that they are not prepared to look too far ahead in a season and would rather take it one race at a time when making plans for a horse.

But then there are those long-range schemers who always look down the line at what they call ‘principal targets'.

Former three-time UAE champion trainer Doug Watson is a blend of both men and will be the first to admit that it's hard to resist the challenge to compete for some of the prizes on offer at the lucrative Dubai World Cup Carnival and the multi-million dollar meeting that it culminates in — the Dubai World Cup on March 31.

Watson, champion trainer in 2006, 2008 and 2009, went without a win during last year's Carnival, but was off the mark this season when his Barbecue Eddie landed a competitive handicap on just the third meeting of this year's event last week.

Watson is in charge of the Red Stables at Al Quoz, a leading facility in Dubai which can house over 150 horses. The facility has its own desert-style training track and its principal patron is Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance.

He has a crack team under him and given the blend of local knowledge that he has accrued since he came here 15 years ago, he has emerged as one of the big players on the UAE racing scene.

Supremely dedicated to his craft, Watson is hoping to stamp his mark on the international stage that Meydan has now become.

Speaking to Gulf News after Barbecue Eddie gave him his first Carnival winner he talked about his goals, horses and training philosophy.

Gulf News: Doug, what are your aspirations for the Carnival this year? Do you still set goals or targets?

Doug Watson: We had a really quiet year last year, and a lot of things that could go wrong, did go wrong. But so far this year things are going really nice and hopefully the luck continues and we can go and win a few races.

In the opening week we didn't win a race but I was actually pleased with the way the horses ran. The aim is just to better the year prior and win with horses that people are expecting you to win with.

You always hope that they run well at the Carnival — it's a large stage to be running on for just a short period of time and you just try to work everything in and get a few wins.

Every year you're just waiting at the beginning of the season to get off the mark. But this is a lot tougher.

The Carnival does raise the bar for UAE racing, so how difficult is it for a trainer like you who has to plan for the whole year to target specific races?

Most of the fresh horses that we get have come in from Europe. A few of them have small issues, some have bigger issues that you have to work through and you only have a short period of time to get them running in the Carnival.

Eddie is a perfect example of that. A few years back when we first got him we tried to run him, it didn't work out, so we gave him the summer off, but he's come around nicely.

And yes the Carnival is definitely of the highest quality. When the guys come over from England, or elsewhere, they're coming in with horses they know already.

They train them very similarly as they would train them at home and set specific targets. So I guess it's a lot more straightforward for the overseas trainers.

What newcomers to you stable look like they will make the biggest impact during the Carnival?

I have two interesting newcomers — Silver Pond, who is owned by Mr Saeed Al Roumathi and Albaasil, who is owned by my boss Shaikh Hamdan.

Silver Pond is a really nice horse and Mr [Al] Roumathi is a nice owner to have.

We're considering the Dubai World Cup or Sheema Classic, but we will explore both options and make a plan. He's doing everything right at the moment.

Albaasil is a horse that we would like to think can make the Dubai Duty Free. He's got a good form coming off a win in England and we're hoping that he stays together and kind of point him on to the Al Fahidi Fort and then on to bigger things.

I guess it must be really satisfying to win with a horse like Barbecue Eddie, who's not getting any younger but still looks extremely competitive.

Shaikh Hamdan bought him three years ago to run in the Carnival.

We had to struggle with him for a good year but he has finally came around and His Highness supports us so well at Red Stables so it's really nice to get off the mark, especially for him.

He's a really neat horse and as he gets a little older we might want to go a little further.

He used to be a little keen earlier maybe now that he is a lot more relaxed this year he might be able to get even a mile.

So we'll look at a couple of options.

How frustrating is it to see your horse being touched off on the line, like Kandar Du Falgas getting beat by a head. What's the feeling like, when you work so hard to give your horse the best chance?

Kandar ran a great race, I'm just a little disappointed that he did not win.

But we'll give him a nice break and try to go to the prep for the Kahayla Classic and onto the Kahayla and hopefully bring a fresh horse there.

He's run four times already so he deserves a nice six-week break.

He's had no issues this year which for a ten-year-old is amazing, so we'll just go into the prep fresh and then be fresh for the World Cup meeting.

How do you fancy your chances of winning the Kahayla?

At this point Seraphin Du Paon is still here and he's still doing well but I think every year we've gone in just a bit tardy.

Kandar is our big hope, we just wish that he stays sound and happy like he is and who knows maybe he gets lucky in the big race.