By Alex Cairns
Turning 12 wouldn't be considered a major milestone in most lives, but for a horse trained in the UAE, it means they are entering the final year of their permitted racing career. In truth, rules requiring obligatory retirement at 13 are rarely called into action due to breeding duties, dwindling form or injury preventing the vast majority of flat Thoroughbreds from enjoying such extended careers.
With that said, sprinters can tend to maintain their form and even improve with age in a way few middle- or long-distance horses manage. Ireland's Sole Power (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) and Gordon Lord Byron (Ire) (Byron {GB}) are just two prominent recent examples of this and both registered high-level sprint form into their ninth year.
The Satish Seemar-trained Reynaldothewizard (Speightstown), named a 'TDN Rising Star' fully a decade ago when trained by Eoin Harty, makes the above-mentioned sprint stalwarts appear positively youthful however, as at the age of 12 he prepares to make his final outing in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen (1200m) during Saturday's Dubai World Cup meeting. Assistant trainer Bhupat Seemar reflected on the remarkable career of this Meydan specialist and offered insights into how 'Reynaldo' has managed to retain and enhance his ability through the years.
“He's an absolute legend for us. The most incredible horse,” he said. “He is such a strong and determined athlete and just defies his age and the usual logic we follow with most racehorses. At 12, he's still got that competitive spirit, probably because we have raced him so lightly with normally between 2 and 4 races a year. And any time he hasn't been completely right, we haven't pushed him. Even this World Cup night, if he had any issue before the race we wouldn't risk it. We've taken care of him over the years and he's given us more than we could ever have hoped for in return.”
For the Seemars' Zabeel Stables, Reynaldothewizard has indeed been a breakthrough horse, providing Satish his first Group 1 winner in the 2013 Golden Shaheen. He also won what is now the G3 Dubawi S. four times between 2013 and 2017, as well as landing Meydan's only other group dirt sprints, the G3 Al Shindagha Sprint and G3 Mahab Al Shimaal.
Reynaldo's Golden Shaheen victory was notable too as a major milestone in the career of UAE-based jockey Richard Mullen, who is the retained rider at Zabeel Stables and has ridden the horse in all but one of his 24 Meydan starts.
“Reynaldo and Richie have a great partnership and Reynaldo put Richie on the big stage by giving him his first Group 1 winner in the 2013 Golden Shaheen,” Seemar said. “They really are a great team. Reynaldo doesn't actually ever show much at home when being ridden by his regular work rider, but when Richie sits on him then he knows that it's time to do the business.”
This bay son of Speightstown, a $400,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $775,000 Fasig-Tipton Florida juvenile, did not always appear destined to compete at the top level, however. Having won his maiden and been placed third in the GII Saratoga Special in his first two juvenile outings, his form drifted at three, prompting a move to the UAE as a 4-year-old in 2010. With his new base at Zabeel, he established himself as a consistent handicap performer at Meydan, but it wasn't until he turned seven that he really started to rise through the ranks. This was due to a combination of factors, as Bhupat Seemar explains.
“We got to know him over time and Richie did too, so he started to enjoy training and racing more and more. But the improved form he showed at the beginning of 2013 was actually due to two things in particular: blinkers and gelding. First he was gelded and then we ran him in the blinkers that he has worn in every start ever since. These two changes at once made him easier to handle and more focused. Suddenly his mind was only on racing as soon as the gates opened.”
So this partly explains both the improvement and the consistency he has managed to show across 10 seasons on the track, but many other horses are subject to comparable treatment and fail to enjoy any such sustained effect. Might there be some secret to his admirable longevity?
“I don't really think so, to be honest,” Seemar said. “We just know his physical and mental preferences so well and he knows our training regimen inside out. When we start him off each year he only trains three or four days a week and it takes him five months to get fit. Not because of any deficiency, but just because we train him really lightly. He gets out and has plenty of time in the paddocks, so he just enjoys his life and it's only when he's ripe and ready that we think about putting him in the gates. In this way he is happy to reward us by winning at least one race almost every year.”
Having run well when attempting to take a fifth Dubawi S. in January (finished third) and again in the Al Shindagha last month (third), perhaps Reynaldo is saving 2018's victory for his swansong in the Golden Shaheen.
“It's certainly possible, even if he's by far the oldest in what I think is a good field,” Seemar said. “There's a Japanese horse who's four years old in the race and Reynaldo's 12. We have to be realistic, but we wouldn't be in it if we didn't think he had a chance. If there's a good strong pace then he can run home. If it's a really hot pace then he'll definitely be right there.”
Experience over the Meydan dirt track and post position can prove pivotal in the Golden Shaheen. With a left turn not long after the stalls and strong kickback to be contended with, a prominent placing through the race is an advantage. Reynaldo's draw in stall three would normally be considered a positive, but may not suit the racing style that has come to be his signature.
“Three is fine. In fact, we could even have done with it being a little bit wider,” Seemar admitted. “These days he tends to be a bit slow at the break and you can get away from the kickback if you're wide, but we're happy enough and Richie knows him well enough to find the best position possible in the moment.”
While Zabeel Stables are far from a one-horse yard (they will run four others on World Cup Night, including impressive Al Maktoum Challenge R3 winner North America in the Dubai World Cup itself), Reynaldothewizard has flown the stable flag for eight successful seasons and his $2.2 million in earnings will surely be hard to replace. Are there mixed feelings about the enforced retirement that will follow Saturday's run?
“Really, I just hope he enjoys the race, runs to the best of his ability, and comes home healthy,” Seemar said. “Then it will be kind of the end of an era for us at Zabeel Stables because he will be retiring. So there are mixed emotions and we will miss training him for sure, but the time has come.”
With aftercare taking an increasingly prominent role in the racing industry, retiring racehorses should (at least in theory) no longer be allowed to drift to an uncertain end as they have sometimes done in the past. Thankfully for Reynaldothewizard, it appears that his connections are ready to assure him the long, happy life that his impeccable service deserves.
“There are a lot of options,” Seemar said. “I know that he is very close to Satish's heart and he wants to have him nearby. We'll just need to sit down and talk about it. If he can spend his days somewhere where he can run around in a big paddock and enjoy his time then that would be great.”
Before the years of lush grass and easy living can be enjoyed Reynaldothewizard has one more date with the Meydan dirt. If he wins on Saturday, it will be the 12th victory of his career. Like turning 12, this wouldn't be a major milestone in itself. But when you know the story of the remarkable Reynaldothewizard, it would certainly bear celebrating.
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