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| Staff Writer |
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Having moved to the UAE over thirty years ago, Doug Watson has forged a reputation for himself as one of the region’s foremost trainers.
A winner of eight UAE Trainer’s Championships, remarkably, Watson had never trained a Group One winner, but that all changed when his newest star, Kabirkhan, beat a classy field in the first leg of the prestigious Al Maktoum challenge just a few weeks ago.
Kabirkhan’s victory not only created history for Watson, but that victory also came with an invitation to the Dubai World Cup and ensured his place in the lineup for one of the world’s richest races.
After years of Group One near-misses, Watson still reflects fondly on Kabirkhan’s breathtaking performance.
“It was exciting. It was our first Group One win, and everyone was very excited. We were also really happy for the horse. He’s tough and genuine; it was a really special night.”
What makes Kabirkhan’s appearance in the upcoming Dubai World Cup so special is that he will represent Kazakhstan. He will be the first-ever horse from the country to line up in the race.
Having spent his first year in Kazakhstan, whilst other horses in the Dubai World Cup field were focusing on the Classics, Kabirkhan was spending his 3YO campaign grafting away in Russia.
Having made the move to the UAE in late 2023, Kabirkhan has settled to life in his new surroundings with ease, winning both of his starts, including the first leg of the Al Maktoum Challenge.
Despite most of the racing public only just recognising his talents, Watson and his team could see the good performances coming from the moment he arrived.
"We had a two-week period where he was working up to his first race; we worked him over five furlongs, and he galloped out at a phenomenal time. We went back the next week and put Pat (Pat Dobbs) on him, and he posted almost exactly the same time from furlong to furlong.
With that behind him, we had to see what he could do at the races. He won his debut at a hand canter, and from that point, we thought we had to enter him into the Maktoum Challenge. It was after that performance we started to get really excited about him."
Despite all of his abundant talents, horses with speed like Kabirkhan can often be hard to train. Thankfully for Watson, Kabirkhan seems to be a dream, and his trainer is keen to stress how great he is to train.
"He goes out and does his job in the mornings. He is a little fresh inside the barn but is a pretty straightforward horse. He’s not the best in the gate and can break a little slowly, but he’s improving all the time."
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With over thirty years of experience in the game, Watson knows what makes a special horse, and it became clear early on that he had a potential star on his hands.
"What probably makes him so special is his willingness. He’s very smooth and carries himself well. Since his second victory for us, he is just getting stronger all the time, but ultimately, he just likes to do his job, and he likes to do it well."
"He was brought up tough. If you see where he’s come from, he had to be tough to have made it through that. He’s a really fun horse to have in the yard, and we will just keep our fingers crossed that everything goes well in the leadup to the race."
It’s remarkable that a horse with Kabirkhan’s background will line up in a race with the prestige of the Dubai World Cup.
Still relatively lightly raced in comparison to his rivals, his Dubai World Cup appearance is set to be only the sixth major start of his career, and he still could be a horse capable of anything. Despite conquering everything before him since moving out to the UAE, Watson knows the Dubai World Cup will present a huge challenge and will demand a career-best performance.
"He won both of his first two starts easily, but it’s a big step up facing horses of the calibre that he will meet at the Dubai World Cup. He loves his racing, and we are hoping that he could have a big night."
Despite the step up in class, Watson is hoping to use all of his experience to ensure that Kabirkhan arrives at the Dubai World Cup ready to roll.
"We are just going to keep him fresh and happy. His daily work is very good, he gets a lot of fitness out of his daily canters, and he carries himself well to keep fit."
"We will take him on the track at least three times before the race. I have no concerns over his fitness. We will just try to keep him as happy and fresh as we can."
With huge excitement surrounding Kabirkhan, Watson knows that the pressure is on to deliver.
"Every big race has pressure, but for me personally, being here for 31 years, this is the race I have always wanted to win. The fact that he has just shown up from Russia and has given us the opportunity to run and that we look to have a bit of a chance in the race is pretty special."
Viewed as a major contender for the race, Kabirkhan is currently viewed as a 6/1 shot by most bookmakers and looks like he has all of the necessary attributes to win one of the biggest races in the racing calendar.
Although Watson’s and Kabirkhan’s relationship is still in its early stages, the two seem perfectly suited for one another.
Watson, who has grafted hard to earn his reputation as one of the best trainers that the UAE has ever seen, seems the perfect trainer for a horse who has come through the tough schools of Kazakhstan and Russian racing.
When speaking of the impact that Kabirkhan would have if victorious, Watson is acutely aware that he carries the hopes of much more than just his owners.
"You are not only winning for the owner, but you are winning for the country. He’s already left a legacy by coming over here and winning a Group One. The whole country is behind him and will be looking forward to the race. It’s exciting to be a part of it."
The Dubai World Cup was created to showcase the best horses from all over the world. A truly global race, the spirit of the race would be perfectly epitomised if Kabirkhan were to poke his head in front and end his trainer’s long wait for the race he wants to win the most.
Although it’s Kabirkhan who will rightly steal most of the headlines, Watson will hope for plenty of success throughout the World Cup card.
Speaking of his chances, Watson isn’t afraid to state that he has horses capable of delivering on the biggest stage.
"We have a nice little team, Isolate, Sound Money, Mubakker and First Classs in the Arabian Race. It's a nice group, but you know in horse racing that plenty can happen, and we just need to keep them all fresh and then see what will happen."
Despite having first trained Arabian horses when he moved to the UAE, Watson’s attention quickly shifted to thoroughbred racing, and it’s been some time since Watson had an Arabian horse of the quality of First Classs, winner of the 2022 Dubai Kahayla Classic.
The Kahayla is one of the most lucrative Arabian races on the calendar and is worth a cool US$1,000,000.
Having finished third in the contest back in 2023, First Classs should line up for this year’s renewal holding a major chance, and Watson will hope that he can guide him back into the winner’s circle this time around.
For a trainer who has achieved as much as Watson has, it’s rare that he still has the opportunity to create more history, but at this year’s Dubai World Cup meeting, that’s exactly what is on offer.
Never before has Watson had such a strong chance to end his long wait to win the race he wants the most, and the racing world will tune in to see if this unlikely superstar can net one of the biggest races in all of racing.