It was time to do some more, says Harrison

There was some kind of an urgency. Kelly Harrison was coming out her retirement after almost four years, and she didn’t want to leave winning for another day.She had Bustawi Ismail-trained Al Gomry go into the lead, despite a stumble on jumping, in the six furlong Thoroughbred Handicap run on Wednesday and the two held off well in the end to emerge with a win.A fist pump on the cool off run and the British jockey had celebrated her first win on her first outing in Qatar.“It’s been nearly four years, I used to ride in the UK,” the 32-year-old told Gulf Times after adding two more runs on Thursday.“I rode for about 12 years there. Racing is harder in England, there is lot of travelling involved,” said Kelly, who was based in Newmarket, the largest racehorse training centre in Britain.Kelly notched up 123 wins in the UK, before quitting in May 2013. In her final race then, she guided William Haggas-trained Princess Rose to fifth place at Thirsk in North Yorkshire, the same track where she raced for the first time in 2002.“I have been coming here for the last four years, and then I got associated with the Racing and Equestrian Club, and I just felt it was time to do some more,” she said about her time in Qatar.Kelly worked as the Racing secretary at the Club office before she quit the job to get back to racing.“As long as I am involved with the horses I don’t mind any kind of a job. Being involved with racing is all that matters. I have quit QREC now and I am back riding now. And I have very good association with everyone here,” she said.“I exercise ride for (Champion Trainer) Jassim Ghazali and his son Mohamed. Mohamed was very keen to have me ride again. And it was a good start,” she added.How does it feel to come out of retirement?“It (actually) happens a lot. Me, personally, I think I probably stopped a little soon, and felt that I had some unfinished business,” she laughed.Kelly plans to stay in Qatar, where her partner JP Guillambert, also a jockey, rides frequently.“In Qatar, I do jumping at the Federation, I have done endurance, now racing and I have also done a bit of showing,” she said.Asked about how she feel about the coming weeks and rides in the new year, she said, “I do feel good about the coming races. The idea is to slowly progress, and hopefully get some nice rides in the coming months.”