After all he has won the mile and a half race three times in the last five years, and is up for a hattrick on Saturday. He even seems to have the right ammunition for it — Gazwan and Ebraz — the two horses owned by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani who have bagged it for the London-born trainer in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Yet the 48-year-old is not taking it lightly, “hoping it would be a good race”. Before he laughs and says, “Well, I am not, I am hoping I am a long way in the front.”
Form book says the race will be between arguably two of the best Arabian colts today —Ebraz and in-form Yazeed, trained by Alban de Mieulle.
The Umm Qarn colt seems to have Ebraz’s number, at least in Qatar. In 2017, the three times Yazeed and Ebraz have gone up against each other at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, the two have put up a scintillating show for the audiences, with the former edging out Smart’s ward every time in close finishes.
In France, however, Ebraz won the Qatar Cup - Prix Dragon in Chantilly handsomely ahead of Yazeed, who then finished behind Gazwan in the Qatar Arabian World Cup over the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe weekend.
“Yazeed is without question the horse to beat in the race. I just hope, that it’s the same kind of race that we have had all year long with Ebraz and Yazeed together and who knows it might be Ebraz in front this time,” Smart says ahead of the three-day HH The Emir’s Sword Racing Festival, which gets underway on Thursday.
“Honestly the way he (Yazeed) has been racing this year, I think it is going to take a 100 percent Ebraz to show up on the day and a 98 percent Yazeed. It’s all about who wakes up feeling better on the day. Look, all being well, the pair will start together at the top of the stretch and then come down nose to nose and the best horse will have his nose in the front.”
The 2016 Emir’s Sword winner Gazwan was the last horse to beat Yazeed anywhere in the world. The seven-year-old, however, had been nursing bit of a niggle but is back in full work.
“We are going to have Gazwan coming back after a long layoff too. He is working well. His biggest problem is that he needs a prep race and he hasn’t had one,” says Smart, who will also have Sheikh Khalifa bin Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani’s Shabih Alreeh in the Group 1 race “probably running for minor honours”.
And then there is Ba’sil, who was on pacemaking duty last year too when Smart outsmarted Thomas Fourcy for the second year in a row denying Al Shaqab Racing’s Al Mourtajez a victory in the race.
Jockey Theo Bachelot will be on Ebraz for the big one, while Cristian Demuro will ride Gazwan, and Christophe Soumillon will helm Shabih Alreeh, according to Smart.
Smart’s wards have notched 12 top four finishes in the last five years in HH the Emir’s Sword race, but the trainer, who has been in Qatar for the eight years, doesn’t always have a great build-up of results heading to the big race.
Last two years, Gazwan and Ebraz were the only winners for the trainer over the three-day racing festival. Understandably, there were even a few tears among the connections last year after the big win.
One of the reasons perhaps is that Smart is largely known to train Arabians, and that also means the number of races his wards participate in are lesser. A recent success with Barwod in the Thoroughbred Trophy Trial, however, gave him a reason to cheer.
“It’s way too much pressure. Al Shahania is all about winning big races,” Smart said.
“(I am) Always second-guessing myself. When people ask me about this job, I keep telling them it’s exactly like being a Premier League football manager. Because my horses are Premier League players, the only difference is that Premier League players can speak to their managers and tell them if they are not feeling right or if they have a problem,” said the Chelsea FC supporter, who thinks that Antonio Conte’s team is going to get “mullered” by Barcelona tomorrow.
“But I have been lucky. Eight years, five Emir’s Sword, four big ones in France.”
So what does he expect come Saturday?
“Nobody wants to see the best Group 1 Arabians in the world hack canter around and then sprint for a finish. They want to see a mile and a half race, and we will make sure that it’s a mile and a half race. The best mile and a half horse will win the Emir’s Sword, whoever that may be, but it will have to be the best one. The one that stays.”
