IN FOCUS / MICHAEL COSTA adiyat racing plus.com 23 ADIYAT RACING PLUS ISSUE 838 Thursday 21 st March 2024 TRAINERS’ TITLE PROSPECT COSTA KNOWS IT AIN’T OVER TILL IT’S OVER By Duane Fonseca If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! It’s the mantra being followed by Michael Costa as he looks to hold on to his slender lead at the top of the UAE Trainers’ Championship and win the title for the first time. Costa sits atop the leaderboard with 36 winners, two more than second placed Bhupat Seemar and six clear of third-placed Musabbeh Al Mheiri. And with just a few meetings remaining, including the prestigious Dubai World Cup programme, every success is vital to his hopes of maintaining his lead and claim a firstever championship in only his second year of training in the UAE. HAPPY TO MAINTAIN STATUS QUO The trainers’ race has been an intriguing one this term with Costa coasting to a comfortable lead, which then started to diminish once 2024 set in. Seemar and Al Mheiri have been his challengers all along with their respective yards peaking since January, which really made things interesting. A five timer helped Seemar draw level with Costa during the final Dubai Racing Carnival meeting a fortnight ago at 34 wins, however, success in the closing event on the same card helped the Aussie go one clear, with another winner on the last day of racing in his backyard at Jebel Ali last Saturday helping him double his lead. Jebel Ali Stables have been one of the standout acts of the season and Costa is happy to maintain status quo despite the title being his to lose now. “It’s business as usual and we’re not going to change anything now,” Costa told Adiyat Racing Plus. “We’re just going to turn every horse out the best way we can. I’ve got a few little ones to still race for at Abu Dhabi and there’s a couple of little nuggets still there to go to with a few horses and then we turn all our focus on to the World Cup which is business as usual. “You can’t look too much into that (the championship). Don’t change anything. It’s just another race meeting and we will keep going.” IT’S BUSINESS AS USUAL AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO CHANGE ANYTHING NOW. WE’RE JUST GOING TO TURN EVERY HORSE OUT THE BEST WAY WE CAN. IT’S JUST ANOTHER RACE MEETING AND WE WILL KEEP GOING — MICHAEL COSTA. ead at the top of the UAE Trainers’ hampionship and win the title for the rst time. osta sits atop the leaderboard with 36 hupat Seemar and six clear of hird-placed Musabbeh l Mheiri. And with ust a few meetings emaining, including he ubai World Cup rogramme, uccess is vital to his opes of maintaining is lead and claim a firstver championship in only is second year of training n the UAE.
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