April 1, earlier this year, trainer Alban de Mieulle was marginally ahead of the competition in the trainers’ championship, and it was the last of the big racing days – Qatar Gold Sword and Trophy Day – at Al Rayyan Park.
In the card-opener, an Arabian maiden race, his hopes were on Umm Qarn’s Al Arabie, “a good filly for me, but unfortunately she didn’t prove herself at the start” as De Mieulle reminisces. “A lot of quality in the morning, but does not show much in the afternoons,” he adds.
But that day, the chestnut filly pulls a fast one out of the bag and wins over seven furlongs by more than three lengths.
Next up, in the local Thoroughbreds run, the Frenchman has another Umm Qarn entrant, Equinoxe. The colt has a few wins under the belt but has had to be put in blinkers every race. And before this one, he hasn’t been jumping well out of the gates.
So, for the 1,850m race, De Mieulle decides to do away with the blinkers. A much better start from the inner stall, no traffic in a small field, settles well midfield, and a straight run to a finish with a flourish.
The veteran trainer finishes the day with the smart and consistent Tayf taking the USD 250,000 Qatar Gold Sword, and with two more wins before the feature, he has all but bagged the leading trainer’s title.
A few more meetings later, De Mieulle has topped the full season for the first time since 2013, having also finished as the leading trainer last season, which was truncated due to the Covid-19 pandemic by around two odd months.
“I feel better, of course,” De Mieulle tells Gulf Times. “It was a nice season, even though we missed a few big wins, like during the Amir Sword meeting. In the Amir Sword itself, (His Highness) Sheikh Mohamed (bin Khalifa al-Thani) won the race because they have better horses on the distance, but the race we missed was the ones for local breds. But the rest of the season was very good, we also enjoyed with the new owners.”
Last season, De Mieulle began training horses for a few other owners, besides His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani’s Umm Qarn. “We requested Sheikh Abdullah for it, and when he said yes, we took horses from a few owners, including Al Shaqab. We didn’t want to take too many owners,” he explains.
Having a few more horses, especially Thoroughbreds from the other owners, De Mieulle reckons has helped him top the championship. “I am a leading trainer also because I am working with different owners too, because at Umm Qarn we don’t have a lot of Thoroughbreds, only 4-5 of them,” says De Mieulle, who has now spent almost two decades in Qatar.
Any pressure to follow it up? And the man with 60 wins and over QAR 750,000 in prize money this season, says, “Between you and me, it is not a pressure for me. I have been in Qatar for 20 years now. I don’t think it would be nice on my part to say that I do not care about the championship, and it is not the case, either. But for me, I have always been more interested in getting a good result for the owner. So you can have only one horse, and win some of the biggest races with that one horse, and I would be happy with that. It is not about the total amount that you have won, but what are you doing with the horses that really matters.”
The Qatar Gold Sword and Trophy Day definitively secured De Mieulle’s place on top this season. “We finished very, very nice at the Qatar Gold Trophy meeting. At the end of the season, form of our horses was better, and you know it can happen in this sport. To be able to enjoy racing horses, you have to be very sporting. But do not forget, a horse is an animal, you have to find a way… and sometimes you make mistakes,” he says.
On April 1, when Tayf entered the winner’s circle for the big feature victory, it was the nine-year-old’s farewell to Al Rayyan Park’s track. “He has always run well, given his heart out,” says De Mieulle about the horse that has tasted victory in some of the biggest Arabian races in the world, including the Qatar International Stakes (Group 1 PA) in Goodwood, Qatar Arabian World Cup (Group 1 PA) in Paris and Qatar Derby (Group 2 PA). “He will now go to Goodwood and then to Qatar Arabian World Cup, and from there he will retire to the stud.”
Last year, his nephew, Jean, too set up stables in France after working with De Mieulle for 5 years as an assistant. “This season he has done well, he has had 6-7 winners already, and he got some horses in training for Haras de Grand Courgeon (owned and managed by De Mieulle). He has some good three-year-olds owned by Qatari owners, I think Sa’ad (maiden winner at Saint Cloud late last year) is a good horse,” De Mieulle says. “He has a very nice training centre, a different track because it is on wood shavings, it is in a forest… very good track.”
From the time he moved to Qatar, his last big season in 2013, a lot has changed since as far as racing in the country goes. “The racing has only improved. My boss is Sheikh Abdullah, and he has given me the chance to prove what I can do in Qatar. But now I also work with some young Qatari owners, and it is nice to try and put their horses at a high level. And now we are also seeing a lot of competitiveness between the owners too.”
Europe is going to be the next stop before racing returns to Qatar, and De Mieulle is excited. “For Umm Qarn, we have new horses coming in next season, and I think we should have a good season.”
