Ernst Oertel

Gulf Review - Ernst Oertel at Desert One Stables

Three days before the Dubai World Cup, standing in his office surrounded by trophies, it might seem hard to agree with leading UAE trainer Ernst Oertel that the season had been only ‘ok’ . However, for most trainers to eventually finish second, having visited the winners enclosure 41 times, just seven wins away from a fourth championship title, it would be a pretty good season.

“It’s not been the easiest, with AF Alwajel getting injured. ” Oertel explains, speaking of his flagship horse who finished the 20/21 term a neck shy of giving his trainer, jockey Tadhg O’Shea and the stable’s principal owner, Khalid Khalifa Al Nabooda a second Dubai Kahayla Classic. In December, the handsome chestnut had reappeared in the UAE’s most valuable race, the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nayhan Jewel Crown and finished seventh, having looked to be in with every chance 300m from the line.

“It’s not a major problem, but I’d rather be safe as he’s a very good horse. If you run them and they ’re not 100 per cent you ’re wasting your time, he deserves better than that and if I can’t get him a 100 per cent ready, I’d wait with him. He needed the rest, so he’s getting it and he’ll be fine next year. ”

Group 2PA winner and 2021 Kahayla Classic second AF Alwajel (AE) rated 125, should be ready to return to racing for the 2022/23 season and is enjoying exercise in Meydan's pool

AF Alajaj (AE) rated 111

Also a factor in the decision not to rush AF Alwajel’s recovery was the fact that they had another good horse waiting in the wings. At the time of the Jewel Crown disappointment, the then four-year-old AF Alajaj had been placed on his reappearance at Sharjah, won dropped in trip to 1400m at Abu Dhabi and then been placed again, back on dirt at Al Ain.

“AF Alajaj is an exciting horse” continues Oertel. “When Tadhg [O’Shea] rode him last year he said he feels like he could be the best horse we’ ve got and then he said the same at the beginning of this year. The horse gives him a brilliant feel and he was proved correct. ”

In January, the colt was placed in the Al Ruwais (Gr3PA), a 1200m sprint on the turf at Abu Dhabi, before winning the Mazrat Al Ruwayah (Gr2PA) over a mile at Meydan.

“AF Alajaj has done nothing wrong, he’s won twice this year and been second. He won a Group 2 last time out very impressively, the distance [for the Kahayla Classic] is maybe a question mark, but he won over a mile and he wasn’t stopping, another 400m shouldn’t be a problem.

“Arabians have stamina, it’s harder to put speed into them than stamina, so I’m not too worried, I think if they ’re fit and everything goes right they ’ll stay. He’s quite a straightforward, easy horse to deal with. He goes on the treadmill, he swims, he’s an easy ride, generally the good horses are the easy ones.

In the event, AF Alajaj had a poor draw of 15 to overcome, and having raced quite keenly early on and been up with the leaders, he cried enough with 400m to go. However, after one attempt, and his first in Group 1PA company, it is too soon to write the five-year-old off at that trip. A product of his owner-breeder’s great international sire AF Albahar, AF Alajaj’s dam is the British bred Hathrah (by Makzan), a winner two sprints in the UK for her breeder, the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum. She had also passed that ability onto the Phil Collington trained, French Arabian Breeders’ Challenge Sprint (Gr2PA) winner Jamaayil (by Al Jakbar), before joining the Al Aweer Farms broodmare band.

Reviewing the rest of his season Oertel continues: “We’ ve got about 100 horses here now, it’s probably about as much as we’d want because the race programme doesn’t cater for more horses. I think they [Emirates Racing Authority] are trying to put more races on for the Arabians. So it’s competitive, but it’s a nice position to be in and they are mostly local, well-bred horses, so I’m lucky. ”

AF Alajaj (AE)

RB Kinetic (US)

Horses warm up before exercising at the adjacent Al Quoz training track

Of the horses that don’t carry the ‘AE’ suffix, he has had a couple of American breds, RB Kinetic, for Byerly Racing and Iridesse, a full sister to Kahayla Classic winner First Classs. Oertel is always open to new owners, with Iridesse arriving later than hoped for her American ownerbreeders Alan Kirshner and Deborah Mihaloff.

Of her Oertel says: “Iridesse ran fifth in the Al Maktoum Challenge [Round 3]. I’d only had her about three weeks and she’d been off for a while. She got stopped in her run, so she’d most probably have been third or fourth. Then two weeks later we ran her on the grass in Abu Dhabi [in the Emirates Championship]. MMost probably it came too quickly after the Meydan race, because she ran flat, and she didn’t perform like she could. Hopefully she’ll stay with me, we’ll freshen her up and we can show the world how good she is.

Also for next season he has two four-yearold brothers to both his top colts whom he describes as ‘exciting’ . AF Marqmuq, by AF Albahar, is a half-brother to AF Alwajel, though his sire AF Al Buraq is a brother to AF Albahar, so their very closely related.

“AF Marmuq should have won his first race in October, but he jumped shadows and he bruised his feet, so he couldn’t run and I took my time with him. He won last week in Al Ain by four lengths, he was impressive.

“AF Alajaj’s brother AF Bareeq, is also by AF Albahar, he was second in a conditions event at Meydan. He’s slow maturing and a bigger horse than Alajaj, probably more scopey. ”

Iridesse (US)

Most days Oertel uses the Al Quoz training track, just outside Desert One Stables (Iridesse (US) [second from left]) but he also has the option of taking a short trip to use the track at Meydan as well [below]

AF Al Sajanjle (AE) at Desert One Stables in 2019

Al Nabooda’s Al Aweer Farms continues to deliver the goods for both Oertel and now ten times champion jockey O’Shea. Oertel is now in the lucky position of having trained several generations for Al Nabooda and that cycle looks likely to continue with the arrival of AF Maher’s first foal, a filly, this spring and the retirement to stud of another PA Group winner, AF Al Sajanjle.

“AF Al Sajanjle was an honest horse, I used to ride him out in the summer, he always gave his best, when it came time and he wasn’t showing his best on the track we thought we’d rather retire him. A lot of the Al Buraq stock are kind and he was a lovely horse in the stable. Al Sanjanjle is just like his sire, he has a good French damline so I think he’ll make a good stallion. The same for Maher. All the Al Buraq’s seem to settle and don’t get upset about anything. ”

There certainly seems to be plenty for the team to look forward to in the 22-23 season, once they return from their summer break.

All photos © Debbie Burt