Racing in the Desert Has Blossomed Since Days of Cigar

Change is coming to racing in the Middle East and, in the weeks between the Saudi Cup (G1) and the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1), the pioneers who moved the region into the international spotlight are preparing to adjust to survive and thrive.

Even Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum probably couldn't have imagined when he staged the inaugural Dubai World Cup in 1996, with a then-unheard of purse of $4 million, how that seed would grow and eventually blossom in the desert sands.

Cigar's stirring stretch-run victory over Soul of the Matter  went a long way toward making that first Cup a success, demonstrating that competitors from around the world could successfully travel to the Arabian desert, win and then return home to continue their career. There were doubts before the American superstar got that job done.

World Cup night grew and expanded and a two-month "Carnival" of racing was added to build anticipation. Sheikh Mohammed, with help from Frank Gabriel, Teo Ah Khing, and others, built the massive palace that is Meydan Racecourse to replace the comfy old Nad Al Sheba. Bahrain, Qatar and other Middle Eastern jurisdictions took note and have expanded their reach to include international races.

Then along came the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia. With the announcement of a $20 million race mirroring the Dubai World Cup, commencing in 2020, Saudi Arabia ensured that part of the world would be a focus for the racing world during the winter months.

In the leadup to this year's Saudi Cup, JCSA officials discussed plans to start their own "Carnival". And talks have been under way for more than a year to smooth out sometimes thorny quarantine and transportation issues that can make travel to and among Middle East destinations unduly difficult.

All of that adds up to a prospect of expanded opportunities and challenge for racing authorities, owners, trainers and even jockeys, not only in the region but around the globe.

Perhaps none is more smack dab in the middle than trainer Bhupat Seemar. The 46-year-old has nearly 20 years' experience in the industry, including time as an assistant in California. But he is at the dawn of his training career after taking over the license of his former boss and uncle, Satish Seemar, at the start of the Dubai season.

With the perspective of experience and the enthusiasm of a new man on the job, Seemar sees the changes facing the industry as opportunity and challenge.

"Obviously, Dubai is the pioneer of it," Seemar told BloodHorse in an interview at Zabeel Stables the week before Super Saturday at Meydan.

"Dubai did it and I'm glad that all other countries are kind of following and doing their thing as well. And it's just going to become, I think, one of the best racing circuits in the world. Dubai, Saudi, Qatar and Bahrain—with all that money coming in, that money does get quality horses so it's going to be fun and I think Dubai is going to improve the quality of racing. So I think this is going to be one of the best places in the world."

Seemar brushed aside suggestions the expansion plans in Saudi Arabia might threaten Dubai's role as the regional bellwether. Instead, he said, the rising tide will float all boats.

"Oh, absolutely. Absolutely," he said. "Competition's always good, right? If we can go to Saudi and compete and they can come and compete here, it's all healthy competition. It improves the horses. It improves the skills."

Nor does he see a Saudi carnival impacting Dubai's Super Saturday fixture.

"I don't think so because the horses that are going to Saudi are different horses. Like, Secret Ambition  (who finished seventh in the Saudi Cup) wouldn't have run on Super Saturday anyway. He was qualified enough to go into the World Cup and any race we'd want.

"So, not really. Some people will aim at the Dubai World Cup meeting and they want to stay and they don't want to go to Saudi. So maybe 1 or 2 percent here and there but, really, no."

That sentiment was seconded by a Dubai training icon, Salem bin Ghadayer, who handles the powerhouse stable of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum. If Seemar is the "new kid" in the training ranks, bin Ghadayer is one of the wise veterans and has his eye firmly on another type of expansion—bringing new owners into the sport, replete with fresh enthusiasm and, of course, new money.

What could be better to facilitate that outcome, he argues, than parallel programs in Dubai and Saudi Arabia?

"I think a lot of owners will be interested," bin Ghadayer said while showing off Sheikh Hamdan's Hypothetical , who two days later would prove an easy winner in the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 (G1) on Super Saturday.

"If you are an owner, do you prefer to have one option or two options? It's a good thing for the sport," bin Ghadaher said.

The opportunities extend to all the supporting players, too, as up-and-coming Italian jockey Antonio Fresu noted.

"That's how it should be," Fresu said. "It should be more competitive. Being in Saudi last year was beautiful. The track was beautiful. I finished sixth in the Saudi Cup. I heard that next season they're going to do the Carnival as well. 

"Dubai has been at the top of its game for so many years without anyone competing with them. Now Saudi, with the Saudi Cup, is challenging," Fresu added. "And, like I say, next year is going to be more competitive because some people are going to move there."

The young rider also exemplifies the potential for Middle Eastern racing to produce global talent.

"I'm very ambitious," he said. "I've always thought about North America. But now things are going well in Italy and Dubai, so maybe I'll keep going this way and maybe in a couple years ... Our riding style in Italy is very similar to America. I would like to give it a try."

Seemar, too, has an eye on North America but perhaps for different reasons. 

"I do hope to go this year—plans to go and buy some good 2-year-olds there," he said. "Hopefully we'll be in the Kentucky Derby one day. It would be good fun to take one there. Maybe a young horse. Maybe a filly."

None of that is to say ongoing changes will be easy. Modifications to travel and quarantine protocols are never easily accomplished, as South African racing can attest. And even if talks among the Gulf States are productive, international travel tends to throw up unforeseen barriers.

When Dubai was forced by the pandemic to cancel the 2020 World Cup, for example, Japanese officials scrambled for an extended period to get their horses home with nothing to show for the experience. And a few American horses got an extended stay in Riyadh after this year's Saudi Cup when an aircraft availability issue canceled their departure.

Seemar takes the optimistic approach to all of that.

"Dubai's done it. Horses can come and stay in quarantine and train in quarantine. The rest of the world, the rest of the region, they need to sort that out as well. Saudi's getting there," he said.

And, as to the unforeseen complications of international shipping, Bill Mott, whose Art Collector  was among those delayed in Riyadh in early March, took a philosophical approach.

Asked if the experience would work against him sending horses to Saudi Arabia in the future, Mott said, "I don't think so. I'm annoyed right now but I'll get over it."

Of course, as Cigar's trainer, Mott was there when it all began.