As a youngster, Majed Al Jahouri was a member of the UAE national swimming team from 1990 to 1997 but he then found his calling in horse racing.
He rode in equestrian endurance races from 2000 to 2005 and then switched to his current job as a trainer of flat racehorses.
The Emirati is enjoying his best season as a trainer, having won all seven Group 1 races for Purebred Arabians, and is aiming for a clean sweep of the country’s top prizes with four entries in the Kahayla Classic, the opening race on Saturday’s Dubai World Cup card.
Al Jahouri, 37, who is the second of four sons in his family, said horses and sports were a big part of his upbringing.
“We had horses at home but we didn’t know anything about horse racing,” he said.
“We used to ride horses for fun and they were great pets. All four boys in the family were in to swimming and my youngest brother [Ahmed] continues to train with the national team.”
Al Jahouri took part in various championships representing the UAE and collected a haul of medals from the Gulf Championships.
“I had a great time and enjoyed every moment of my time in swimming. The medley was my favourite and was my strength in winning medals for my country,” he said.
His older brother, Ali Khalfan, was the first to venture in to the equine industry. He rode endurance horses, won the 2011 European Open in France, is one of the leading endurance horse trainers, and is in charge of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed’s Al Wathba Stables.
“Ali got interested in riding endurance horses in the early 1990s and the rest of us followed,” Al Jahouri said.
“I had some success and it was great fun. At one point all four of us, Ali, me and my two younger brothers, Fahad and Ahmed, were riding endurance horses.
“Fahad won the President of the UAE Cup for Juniors and Young Riders, and Ahmed is in the national swimming team and he, too, rode in endurance races.”
The four brothers have taken different paths.
Ali is the only one still involved in endurance. His 14-year-old son Khalifa has emerged as one of the brightest, young prospects in endurance riding.
He has won three major races this season and finished first in the FEI World Championship for Young Riders and Juniors in France last year. Al Jahouri’s two sons, Sultan, 14, and Hamdan, 12, are following in their father’s footsteps.
“They are into swimming and enjoying it and, unlike me growing up, they have a better idea of horses and horse racing,” he said.
Al Jahouri spent two years learning about training horses for flat racing with Mohammed Ramadan, the Egyptian who trains at Al Ain Equestrian Club.
He became Ramadan’s assistant in 2007 and travelled to Argentina for a two-month course before receiving his trainer’s licence in the UAE the following year. “I was fascinated by flat racing and often discussed my love of training in flat racing with Mohammed [Ramadan]. He encouraged me and got me started,” Al Jahouri said.
“Having obtained the licence I ventured out on my own by establishing a private stable in 2009/10. It was a good first season as I had six winners, including the Listed Triple Crown Round 1 winner Samira De Carrere, and the runner up [Vire Volte] in the President of the UAE Cup.”
Sheikh Mansour spotted his talent and provided him a section of the Al Wathba Stables facilities where his older sibling ran a successful operation in training endurance horses.
“That was the turning point of my life,” Al Jahouri said. “I started with a few horses from Sheikh Mansour and the stables have gone from strength to strength every passing year.”
Al Jahouri won five Group 1 contests last season and saddled 14 winners to accumulate Dh2.28 million in prize money. He has won the same number of races this season, earning Dh2.5m.
“The Kahayla is the most difficult one,” he said. “We have four entered and they are all in good shape going into this race. Hopefully one of them can go on and win this race for us.”
His other runners in the race are Raaziq, a winner twice from his three local starts, including the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 over the course and distance, Musharab, the two-time winner of the Emirates Championship in Abu Dhabi, and Naseem, winner of the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1.
apassela@thenational.ae
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