Life-changing journey for Sultan and Ayesha
dubai — If talking to two of the eight Emirati men and women is anything to go by, it is safe to say that horse racing in the UAE will be in really good hands.
The past nine months have been a life-changing journey for Sultan Ali Al Ameri and Ayesha Al Fugaee, a journey towards translating their dream into reality. Sultan and Ayesha were part of the path-breaking first batch of the Masar Godolphin programme, which graduated on Wednesday.
And while Sultan wants to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious father Ali Al Ameri and the UAE champion Saeed bin Suroor, and become a trainer, Ayesha wants to become a breeder and hopes to buy her first mare in a couple of years.
“The nine-month journey we’ve had, the eight of us have really been thrown into the deep end of the thoroughbred industry. Everyone’s had different interests, some of my teammates have been interested in breeding. I see myself in training. Luckily, we’ve been fortunate enough to have to choose the parts that we were interested in and they placed us in those departments. So, I spent time with the trainers and I mostly was with Charlie Appleby in Newmarket. I live on a yard in Abu Dhabi so I’m surrounded by horses always. So, it was home away from home. It has been a great journey, it really has,” said Sultan.
Horses quite literally runs in Sultan’s blood. His father Ali Al Ameri is known as ‘The Horsemaster’ on the endurance circuit.
Sultan has come back richer from the experience with Godolphin but felt he still has to put the hard yards in to make the cut as a trainer.
“With horses, you are always learning, every day you are learning. So, I don’t think however long you spend shadowing or even if you are an established trainer, you are still learning every day. So, the time we spent there certainly wasn’t enough to qualify me as a trainer. I have a long road ahead of me, very willing to learn and being with Godolphin, it was the top of the top. That does help to see how a top quality yard runs with top quality horses and how they maintain it. That’s brilliant. I mean, you can spend 10 years with a lesser trainer and learn maybe what you would in a year with a top trainer,” said the 23-year-old.
Meanwhile, Ayesha felt it was a “National mission” as they were representing His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the country on the international stage.
“It was an amazing experience. But we actually thought of it as a national mission because, for us, we were the reason that doors are going to be open to the next batches. So, for us, it was something very national because we were really inspired by His Highness’ story, it started more than 30 years ago. So, we were there representing a very important person and a very elite country and actually proving to the international stage that you can do this,” said Ayesha, who is also the founder and president of the Educational Equestrian and Poetry Club.
“Now, you have got people who are in love with endurance and have added another love which is thoroughbred racing. For me, I had the first female team going to racecourses, so, for me, it is definitely education but personally I’m into breeding. I’m planning to buy my first mare in two years, hopefully. I’m trying to identify the perfect bloodline that I’m looking for. We all have different dreams, we all come from different backgrounds. Whatever the dream is going to be, it is to spread awareness about the sport,” she added.
james@khaleejtimes.com