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| Staff Writer |
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Michael Costa came to Dubai hoping to experience great racing and training success.
Having the ideal resources behind him from Major General Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has Costa on the path to becoming the UAE's top trainer. With Jebel Ali Stables’ 6YO Mouheeb lined up for the Gr.1 Golden Shaheen and their other fast sprinter, 6YO Bilhayl heading for the Gr.1 Al Quoz, the goal seems to be well on the way.
So far in the 2023-2024 season Michael Costa stands as the leading trainer, according to the ERA rankings. He has seen 36 wins with a strike rate of 25.9%. In the four years before Costa arrived, the stable had only trained 14 winners in total. A large part of this incredible success can be attributed to his willingness to try different methods.
One of those methods included finding the right partnerships. Last month, Costa was able to bring in Jo Taylor as the assistant trainer. Taylor previously worked under Chris Waller, who is one of the most recognisable names in Australian racing with over 150 Group One winners under his belt.
Another method he has developed is to find the right horses for his yard at yearling sales. In a move that is contrary to the rest of the region, Costa said that he has been able to find solid yearlings at fair price tags and hopes to continue the pattern over the summer this year.
“I don’t know statistically if Breeze Up sales are as good as they were before, but I just found after attending the Keeneland Sale, for the first time, that if we purchase yearlings at source, we would get our first selections for a better price tag.”
Costa is comfortable buying younger horses because they have to wait anyway. He knows he has the team and facilities to train the horses the right way.
Developing young horses is also a philosophy that owner, H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum likes as well.
“And in regard to the horses with form, His Highness enjoys the process of buying a young horse, developing a young horse, naming, and watching it come through the process, rather than buying a named horse that has form,” Costa said.
“It’s more about the enjoyment and process of that which is what we want to do as well in the end.”
There is a clear plan in place. Having that foundation allows for everyone to be on the same page.
“We want to make our stables a little bit different. Currently, we don’t have any horses in the lower handicap range,” Costa said. “So now we’re rebuilding.”
They had roughly 60 horses this season. Costa said that they still have several two-and-a-half and three-year-old horses that are unraced.
“The goal for next year will be to have a full team of 80 horses,” he said.
The handler felt it was important for him to start afresh at Jebel Ali. He wasn’t too worried about what happened before he arrived.
“I don’t really know, you know, what was done previously, so it’s not a comparison of what happened over the last decade,” Costa said. “I was very lucky in that when I arrived, the horses were here already, but the staff that were here already needed to be motivated. Like, you’ve got to have the right people on the team, and if we were going to make changes, they had to be, you know, willing and have the belief in what we were doing to change.”
The most important change was in the attitude at the stables. Costa wanted to help motivate his staff to believe in themselves and the job.
“We needed to get confidence back into the staff to believe that they are a winning team because horses are smart, and they can pick up on things,” Costa said. “They’re just a mirror of their environment. Horses are very switched on with energy, and they’re a great judge of characters.”
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There have been a few horses that Costa has seen find success around the Dubai World Carnival. Bilhayl, a 6YO horse, grabbed a win back in November at the Handicap Sprint Stakes sponsored by the Emirates Sprint Series (1000m), providing the stable with one of its many victories early on in the season.
With Ben Coen firmly in the saddle, Bilhayl denied stablemate Laa Baas, the ride of Pat Dobbs, by a massive four-and-quarter length to clear the finish line smoothly. Costa hopes for a similar, if not better showing on World Cup night.
Mouheeb is another horse that has found a lot of success on the track for Costa.
“Mouheeb’s work leading into this race had shown great improvement from his first-up run,” said the handler.
Both are being aimed at the upcoming Dubai World Cup race night.
Costa believes that the key is trying to prepare like it is a normal race. That way, he can get the best out of the horse on World Cup night.
“We’ve got every piece of work already planned out of what we’re going to do leading into the race for the next month, depending on the weather of course,” Costa said. “Anything else we tweak, and we pivot as we go, but it’s all just business as usual. We are aware that the World Cup is on the thirtieth of March. We have got to get the greatest out of the horses on the night, but everything’s pretty much business as usual.”
“We don’t like to change too much,” Costa said. “There’s no doubt it’s a huge night, so we want to dot the i’s and cross the t’s and everything like that. And we want our horses prepared and we want them to hit the peak on World Cup night.”
Having the right people supporting him has made the past few years enjoyable for Costa.
What he appreciates is how engaged Sheikh Ahmed is with the process.
“I genuinely believe he’s got great racing knowledge, and we can achieve what I want to achieve, which in my mind, is to make those yellow and black colours a force to be reckoned with around the world,” Costa said.
“A resurgence in winning some of the best races around the world is what I’d like to do.”
Costa believes Sheikh Ahmed also has a desire to grab some wins on a more regional scale as well.
“His Highness Sheikh Ahmed has won Group Ones all around the world,” Costa said. “But I believe he hasn’t won a Group One here. We better just tick that off the list as well.”