Winning the championship is not all that matters

Barely has the dust settled on another sensational Dubai World Cup meeting than the racing spotlight swivels to the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club for the first of three acts in a gripping battle for the 2022-2023 UAE Trainer’s Championship.

After six absorbing months of action at the country’s five racecourses, the honours for the coveted leading trainer title hangs in the balance.

Former seven-time champion Doug Watson, who won the Group 1 $1 million Godolphin Mile at Dubai’’s flagship meeting with Isolate, was in pole position with 39 wins and was closely followed by reigning champion Bhupat Seemar, with 37 wins.

Ernst Oertel, a former three-time champion handler, was in pursuit on 34 wins, before Thursday’s Abu Dhabi finale which featured five Arabian races and one for thoroughbreds.

Both Watson and Seemar primarily train thoroughbreds, while Oertel is a Purebred Arabian specialist.

Each of them had a different philosophical approach to winning the championship.

“With very few race meeting left, a lot matters on what happens over the next two weeks,” said former seven-time champion trainer Watson.

“But it’s not something that I’m thinking too much about. I always said that a win on Dubai World Cup night would mean more to me and now that we have that, I’d be happy with whatever happens in the Championship.

“Of course, it would be nice to win for the stable. We have a great team who do a fantastic job, so it would mean a lot to them. We’re in for some nail-biting nights," he added.

Watson paid tribute to his owners for their continuous support and for entrusting him with horses that have meant a lot.

“We are very lucky to have owners who give us such fantastic horses,” he said. “At the end of the day, they are the ones who deserve the success. We just train them and ensure that they’re in the best possible condition to be competitive.

Hopefully, we can take it down to the line.”

Seemar narrowly came close to winning the Group 1 $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen for the second straight year, only to see his stable star Switzerland cruelly touched off by US-raided Sibelius.

“He ran a huge race but was very unlucky on the line,” said Seemar, in his second season as head trainer of Zabeel Stables, one of the UAE's premium horse training facilities. “It was a hard pill to swallow.

“But we can’t complain, we’ve had a great season. We're far ahead in terms of prize money won which means that we’ve had a lot more quality runners. We’ve also seen a lot of horses finish second, third, and fourth. They have been consistent,” he added.

“If we do win the championship it will be bittersweet after what happened to Switzerland on the big night.

• Dubai World Cup 2023: How Japan conquered the big night at Meydan Racecourse