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| Staff Writer |
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The most successful trainer in the UK has been part of the Middle East’s racing journey since the early days. The Champion trainer is now training with his son Charlie at their beautiful yard, Kingsley Park.
The trainer had plans to run Living Legend (IRE), Maydanny (IRE), West End Charmer (IRE) in the Bahrain International Trophy but they didn’t come to fruition. However, he still hopes to race his stable star Nayef in Saudi and UAE.
Here, Ten Furlongs chats to the Multiple Group-winning English trainer about his ambitions for the Middle East and the horses he hopes to race here in the upcoming season.
Q: What are your plans for the upcoming Middle East racing season?
A: We had hoped to have runners in Bahrain, Saudi, and Dubai but, with a large number of horses being sold at the Horses In Training sales, we are currently left with just Nayef Road to target at Saudi and Dubai
Q: Please tell us more about your horses that are expected to participate this season. (Which countries and races are they being prepared for, when do they land etc.)
A: At present, I have Nayef Road for the Saudi Long-Distance Cup and the Dubai Gold Cup but, hopefully, something will emerge from our All-Weather season here which has shown sufficient aptitude, and gained a high enough rating, to target a ME race.
Q: Will you be joining your horses here this season?
A: If I have runners, either myself or my son Charlie will attend. My wife and I have only missed one Dubai World Cup meeting since 1997. We will attend the Dubai World Cup even if we have no runners.
Q: You had hoped to race Living Legend (IRE), Maydanny (IRE), West End Charmer (IRE) in the Bahrain International Trophy but they are not in the final field. What do you see in the near future for these horses?
A: Maydanny has recently left my stable to continue his career trained in Dubai. I am sure he will be very successful in the Middle East. He is a tremendous horse. Living Legend will need to win again in Britain to justify a trip to the Middle East and, unfortunately, West End Charmer has been injured again.
We sold Dancing King at the last Tattersalls sale and I believe he has gone to Dubai to be trained there for Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed. I think he is a very exciting horse that could be a major player in your distance races.
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Q: As multiple Classic-winning trainers for whom the ME is a familiar stomping ground, what does winning in the Middle East, especially in the newer yet quite valuable race meetings in Saudi or Bahrain mean to you?
A: I have yet to win at one of the new meetings in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia but I had runners in the last two Saudi Cup meetings and I was most impressed. The prize money, of course, is hugely attractive and the facilities are first class. The people were very welcoming and, despite the difficulties of Covid-19, everything ran very smoothly.
Winning in Dubai this year meant a huge amount to me. It was 21 years since my last winner on the World Cup card and Subjectivist did it in such tremendous style.