IN FOCUS / MICHAEL COSTA adiyat racing plus.com 25 ADIYAT RACING PLUS ISSUE 838 Thursday 21 st March 2024 Ma Yetal Bilhayl there even as a younger horse, but it was not to be and we’re not going to push a horse if it’s going to jeopardise their next season. So we’ll do the right thing by the horse and enjoy the fruits next year.” Appointed to school the population at the base of Jebel Ali Racecourse by patron and founder Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Costa replaced Nicholas Bachalard in 2022 and has since trained a total of 50 winners in the UAE, the latest of which was Lahfaty, who won the Jebel Ali Distaff, a fillies only event over 1400m by two lengths on Saturday. If all goes well over the next few weeks, at this time next year, Costa might be dispatching horses in a title defence bid. While it’s something that is bound to interest him, Costa seems to prefer focusing on the process. Guess, it’s his way of dealing with the pressure. “I said we would take a quantum leap this year compared to last year and now we are excited about next year with the twoyear-olds that are coming through, so we’re getting stronger and stronger,” he said.
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