In October last year, Faleh Bughanaim was on the stage with Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) president HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani during the annual Sport Excellence Awards.
The 28-year-old had won the Jockey of the Season award and found himself in an august company full of achievers from the field of sport. There were Olympians, Para-Olympians, upcoming stars and accomplished administrators.
The jockey had finished in the top 20 for the first time in Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club’s (QREC) 2016-17 season and it looked as though the adulation was as much a motivation and encouragement as it was deserved.
Bughanaim had impressed many with his top notch performances in Endurance riding in the past, a win in the 2009 World Endurance Championship event in Compiegne, France, featuring prominently among his victories nationally and internationally.
After dabbling in endurance and flat racing both at the same time for years together, Bughanaim began focussing on the latter, and last season not only did his number of rides double up, even his victories were in double digits for the first time, 12 to be precise.
In the latest season that concluded on Thursday — Bughanaim picked up victory in one of two features, two runner-up finishes, and a third place spot on the final day — the jockey had amassed 88 top three finishes, including 20 victories from 287 runs.
“Everything went well this season. I have Al Shaqab (Racing) sponsoring me, and then I was trusted with some good horses and we did a good job,” Bughanaim told Gulf Times.
Among the trainers Bughanaim has raced for this season are Hadi Nasser al-Ramzani, who finished third in the trainers’ championship for the recently-concluded season behind Jassim Mohamed Ghazali and Julian Smart, and Hossin Mohamed Ashour, with the latter also handling horses for Al Shaqab Racing.
“I worked hard to be in the top 10 jockeys this season in Qatar and I did well. I hope next year to do much better,” Bughanaim said.
“Al Shaqab Racing sent me to Europe to be with the big jockeys, and I learned a lot. After I came back here, I did very well. I actually surprised myself with the performances here over the season. I did very well this season.”
In the European summer of 2017, before the season in Qatar began in November, Bughanaim was in Europe and rode winners for Al Shaqab, including Metrag, a Listed winner in Rome.
“I had some good races in Europe. I have a winner in a Listed race. I have won around eight races in Europe so far and I hope in the new season, I do much better,” Bughanaim said, after he had guided al-Ramzani’s ward, Vitally Important, to a close second in the season’s final race at the QREC this past Thursday.
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