Seemar wary of fickle weather ahead of big race

Dubai - The four-time UAE Champion Trainer is praying that the weather holds good at the Meydan Racecourse

So far so good, it has been for Satish Seemar. His ward North America prepped well, rested well and got the luck of the draw. If anything, the Dubai-based Indian handler has one last favour to ask, this time from mother nature - the weather to hold up on race night.
As Seemar and North America prepare to have another crack at the $12 million Dubai World Cup on Saturday, the fickle weather has been showing up in the lead up.
And the four-time UAE Champion Trainer is praying that the weather holds good at the Meydan Racecourse.
"He's primed and ready to run but I need help from mother nature," Seemar said at the 'Breakfast with the Stars,' the traditional meeting where racegoers get to rub shoulders with the horse connections, at the Meydan Racecourse early on Thursday morning.
"And this is not a good thing for me and for my horse. But we are hoping that tomorrow afternoon onwards to the day after, things will improve. But every horse has a like or dislike to the surface and I'm pretty sure my horse doesn't like the slush on the dirt.
"And I'm just hoping everything will dry up. What we had to do at home, what we preferred as the stall, etc, we got everything. We were lucky that way but we need mother nature to help us," he added.
Explaining how the rain will affect the horses and the running, Seemar said: "It just depends on the amount of rain. If it really rains a lot, then the track actually becomes, what you call, sloppy. Hopefully, you are in the front and my horse likes to be in the front.
"Then, he's alright. But as soon as the mud starts hitting you, they just give up and that's over for you. If it is a certain amount of rain, which just makes the track just fast enough, which I like and I'm hoping. And the other part is the slowness, it just rains a little and makes the track a little slow. And that's what I don't want. So, I want the middle."
Seemar still backed North America's ability irrespective of luck and the weather. He also said that it was the most open field he had seen and felt any horse could win.
"Of course, as a trainer, I'm going to be biased but the people who know my horse, he's got the ability. He doesn't need to prove in that field. He's very talented, he's done it in the same distance in the Al Maktoum Challenge, in a very impressive way. And this year happens to be an open field. Dubai World Cup has never been so open as on this Saturday. There is no superstar, there is no champion. It is all even keel and the best part is everybody has a chance. The horse who wakes up with the best mood in the morning, he's going to win," said Seemar.
Seemar said it would mean the world to him if North America can get the job done.
"I always consider myself as one of the luckiest trainers in the world. I've got the most gorgeous yard - the Zabeel Stables. Look at this racecourse. I don't think you will see this anywhere in the world, and I've seen it from day one. I've been very fortunate, honoured, lucky to have experienced this and I'm still experiencing it. Dubai is a place, like His Highness says 'There is no finish line.'
"So, Dubai doesn't have a finish line, Every year, year after year, when you come, you will always find something new, something innovative and something excellent," said Seemar, who has lived in Dubai for close to three decades now.
james@khaleejtimes.com