They say there is no substitute for hard work and the significance of that age old expression was driven home in no uncertain terms at Nad Al Sheba racecourse last week by UAE trainer Musabah Al Muhairi.
Al Muhairi, who is enjoying the best season of his career as his horses are simply flying, attributed his success to nothing but hard work.
“There is no secret training method, no special feed. The reason my horses are doing well is because we have worked very hard,” he told me after saddling his third hat-trick of the season.
Last term, Al Muhairi, who is based at the Oasis Stables adjacent to Nad Al Sheba racecourse, saddled 17 winners. In less than eight weeks this season he has already raked up 14 winners, and is pushing championship leader Doug Watson very hard.
Al Muhairi seems to have got himself some very nice horses this year. But the key is that he has them fit and ready to run. Clearly his team have put in extra hours during the summer and in the crucial development months leading up to the start of the season in December.
Al Muhairi says the only thing they have done differently this year is to put in some extra work during the off-season and work the horses a little bit harder from August to November.
“We stepped up the pace from August and the horses responded well,” he said.
“The lads put in a lot of extra hard work as well and the results are paying off. It’s a great feeling when you can see the rewards coming. But you can’t succeed without a good team and good team who are prepared to put in some hard work.”
Al Muhairi’s fine run of form last week was highlighted by a very impressive performance from veteran sprinter Junction Line, who was an easy winner of the Al Nasr Leisureland Challenge.
Al Muhairi is excited about the return to form of the nine-year-old and is even considering targeting him at some of the big sprint races that are coming up.
Meanwhile, it was good to welcome top trainer Mike de Kock back to Nad Al Sheba. De Kock, a leading performer in Dubai in recent years, wasted no time getting off the mark when Ablaad put in a classy display to have his trainer considering the $2 million (Dhs 7.2m) UAE Derby as his ultimate target for the season.
“It’s great to be back, but it’s going to be tougher to win races this season, as the standard always rises every year,” said the South African.
