New season brings more responsibility for UAE’s star jockey O’Shea

Tadhg O’Shea is far ahead of the field when it comes to racing records in the UAE. And it looked unlikely he will be matched anytime soon.

The Irishman is already way out in front with an alltime record of 602 winners and has nine UAE jockey’s championship titles in the bag. He now has the opportunity to stretch his unprecedented streak when riding for two powerful stables in the new season that gets underway with a seven-race card at Jebel Ali on Friday.

O’Shea rides as first jockey for six-time UAE champion trainer Satish Seemar at the Zabeel Stables and continues as the retained rider for Emirati owner/breeder Khalid Khalifa Al Naboodah on his Purebred Arabians housed at another four-time champion trainer Ernst Oertel’s yard.

“I’m very privileged with the position I have with both stables and obviously I’m keen and enthusiastic as ever,” O’Shea told The National.

The Zabeel stables is not a new surrounding for O’Shea, who has been riding in the UAE for more than two decades since arriving in 2001 after winning the first of two champion apprentice titles in Ireland.

O’Shea was the second jockey to Richard Mullen at Zabeel for the last three years and has ridden plenty of winners for them.

“It’s basically the same role I have been doing but maybe as the first choice rider I get to choose if there are more than one horse entered in the race, of course with the help of Satish and Bupath (Seemar – assistant trainer).

“It is important to work as a team as sometimes they like you on a horse you won on or an owner might request you ride his horse. It’s not Tadhg O’Shea making decisions.

“There are lot of things that go behind the scene with the owners, and sometimes you have to look down further than the role, like you may ride a horse as he might need the race for fitness or long term he might be the best horse.”

O’Shea has had many good memories and rode many good horses but described Secret Ambition as a “very good horse in my career” at Zabeel.

“I don’t think I had a poor ride on him ever in eight starts,” he said. “The worst I would have finished was third on him. I have won three races and second four times. He’s an amazing horse for me and everybody needs a good horse like this.”

Aside from riding winners, O’Shea says staying healthy is his goal every year.

“After that let’s try riding winners,” he said. “I’ll be riding for a lot of important owners and the main thing is to try and do my job to the best of my abilities to get results.”