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| Staff Writer |
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A few bumps in the road won’t make trainer Ernst Oertel sweat too much. He’s poured too much into developing a sustainable plan for consistent success. Oertel won’t pretend he’s happy with the start to this season.
But he knows the steps to take to right the ship on the journey.
“Every year, I have a 14-15 percent strike rate,” Oertel said. “It works out like that in the end. We’ll pick up our game. The races will come, you know. It should all balance out by the end of the season.”
Oertel is a three-time Champion Trainer in the United Arab Emirates who is also an amputee due to an infection from the hospital. Seldom does the former military man allow his injuries to slow him down.
Oertel is in charge of looking after 80 purebred Arabians. There is also a staff Oertel has to work with to keep the business going.
There is plenty of potential in Oertel’s stables to make this season an exciting one.
“We always have good horses,” Oertel said. “I’ve got a couple from America. I’ve got five horses from Mr. Joe Gillis of Allegra Arabians. They’re very nice.”
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“We’re all on track,” Oertel said. “And it’s been a little bit slow this season. Because to be honest, the race plan hasn’t suited us. They’ve got a new program. They seem to be trying to put it into format, and it hasn’t suited our horses as such.”
Diamond Gem, a 4YO gelding, is one horse that Oertel has high hopes for this season. Over his career, Diamond Gem has produced five wins in eight races. However, Diamond Gem didn’t run a strong race in France earlier this season.
“He was a champion horse in America,” Oertel said. “He’s very exciting, and I’ve got a full brother to him.
Being a three-time champion trainer isn’t something Oertel brags about. He’s more likely to talk about a few missed opportunities that could have produced more glory.
“I think we’re quite consistent,” Oertel said. “I’ve been a three-time champion when I should have been a couple more. But we lost it by, like, one or two, a couple of times. We are always consistently trying and want to try and keep our horses healthy.”
Building a structured program means utilising the tools that work best for them. The consistency Oertel seeks goes beyond just training the horses in a certain manner. Developing that pattern has helped Oertel earn the trust of owner Khalid Khalifa Al Nabooda.
“We try to keep the same staff, the same feed, the same horses and keep the same program,” Oertel said. “I’m blessed because I have a good owner in Mr. Nabooda. He lets me do what I want, and he doesn’t get involved. He supports me. As long as that continues, I’m sure we’ll continue having success.”
Oertel said he has been impressed with Nabooda’s eye for horses. For the most part, the stable looks to add strong Arabian horses.
Oertel says the process for adding new horses starts when he goes to the stud in April. This is a valuable time window because Oertel can bring them back, ride them, and figure things out before they close for the summer.
“I’ve got my brother there, and they’ve got a pre-training yard, and he breaks them in,” Oertel said.
“They only do light work generally.”
This helps keep the horses on track to be able to get off and bring them into training quickly.
It’s helpful that they come to me, and then we can start cantering them and get them going,” Oertel said. “It makes sense because then they’re ready to race. At least, you know, they’ve had their early lessons and so they’re in a bit more shape to be running.”
Oretel hopes there will be plenty of winners to come this season. AF Alwajel has been a consistent winner for Oretel.
“He was second in the Kahayla Classic,” Oertel said. “He’s got three track records he’s broken. And he had a slight injury two seasons ago, and I brought him back last year.”
Despite the injuries, Oertel believes he is capable of doing more.
“He won the National Day Cup,” Oertel said. “But last year, his injury played up a little bit, and I wouldn’t have given him justice to keep him going just to run in the Maktoum Challenge. I’d have to train him quite hard, and I thought, well, I’ll take it easy. And with the thing that we’ll run this year, and then we’ll try and go for Dubai Kahayla Classic.”
“It’s funny, he started off in thoroughbreds, and he went to Arabians, and that’s his passion,” Oertel said. “He’s the foremost in the UAE and in the world, I would nearly say, for Arabians. He has immense knowledge of the horses, and it shows in his horses like AF Ahbahar, and AF Burak.”
The Arabian horses that Al Nabooda has helped acquire have picked up major victories not just at the lower levels but in Group One events as well.
“We went with homebred horses,” Oertel said. “It’s flying the flag for the UAE, really.”
Oertel said they are deliberate in their approach to where they enter horses in races. Diamond Gem will be a horse they hope to get in some big events. There are also a few young horses Oertel hopes to bring along.
“If they step up a little bit, then they are in the Group class,” Oertel said. “It’s just a matter of luck and if your horse is good enough, but they’re not at other times. You’re not sure, and then they run brilliantly and then in that league. We’ve got a couple of nice, exciting ones.”