Jebel Ali Stables looking to make greater impact
dubai — The new racing season in the UAE kicks off on October 26 and the all-new Jebel Ali Stables is looking to make a greater impact this season with over 25 new horses under new trainer Nicholas Bachalard.
“Our main goal is to win races this year,” the French trainer said during an interaction with media on Thursday at the Stables’ picturesque course in Dubai.
Bachalard, who joined the Jebel Ali Stables last April from Saudi Arabia, matter-of-factly added ‘not necessarily at the (Dubai World Cup) Carnival’.
He is looking to rack up winners particularly at the home turf. “We will have to travel to Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and will try to do best for the stables at these places,” he stressed.
Bachalard revealed that currently they had about 50 horses in training. “A few came from England and a few we bought in America.”
Talking about plans for the upcoming season, he said: “By the beginning of December most of the horses in our stable would be ready to run.”
He also revealed that the Jebel Ali Stables might have a few horses for the Dubai World Cup Carnival. “If the horses are good enough, we will try to run there (Carnival).”
Bachalard needed a bit of prompting from Mohammad Saeed Al Shehi, the Racing Manager at the Stables, to announce Chris Hayes as the jockey again at the Jebel Ali Stables. “He was here before, so, for me he is the wise choice, he knows most of the horses because he has been here, so it was good option for us,” he explained on the choice of Hayes as the stable’s jockey.
Talking about the surface at the Jebel Ali racecourse, the French trainer said that efforts were made to improve the surface this season.
At the same time, he conceded that some issues won’t go away. “We have tried to work with the surface we had, we didn’t add any oil this year on the surface, changed the harrows,” he revealed.
Bachalard added that they had graded the track a few times to make it level. “Unfortunately, for the jockeys’ kickbacks, we will never be able to get rid of them, because it is oil based, the oil just comes back underneath the horses’ hoof and acts like projectile, so will try to minimise that but that is something there in Jebel Ali and (we) will never be able to get rid of that,” he acknowledged.
However, he reiterated that the track will be same for everyone and consistent.
“The turn has always been a concern because it is pretty sharp but it is nothing we can do about,” he said about a tough turn on the course.
Al Shehi said that Jebel Ali will host seven races from six previous seasons. In all the racecourse will have 13 extra races.”