After a career featuring many twists and turns, top Italian rider is now in his prime – as he showed last month with big-race wins in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Now he is looking to Meydan and beyond – as he tells Jon Lees.
UAE: Italian jockey Alberto Sanna believes he has reached his prime. At 38, with many years of experience in the saddle behind him, he is now on a mission to establish himself as a major international jockey.
Sanna is confident in his own ability, but in his profession big-race successes are what counts – and they are not so easy to find when home is Qatar.
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Nevertheless, he made a major statement when he rode the Hong Kong-trained Russian Emperor to win the $2.5 million H H Amir Trophy in Doha last month.
Not only did he steer the Douglas Whyte-trained gelding to victory over Godolphin challenger Warren Point and the Aidan O’Brien-trained pair Broome and Stone Age, but he also helped plan the success of the South African’s first runner outside Hong Kong.
“I am very good friends with Douglas,” explains Sanna. “I wanted to ride a good horse in the race. It used to be worth $1m which wasn’t good enough to get a horse like Russian Emperor there, but then when they pushed the prize-money up to $2.5m I asked Douglas and he agreed.
“We were colleagues before,” Sanna goes on. “We rode together in Hong Kong and when he became a trainer all his first winners were with me. Then I left Hong Kong. He kept going well but we stayed in touch. His first runner overseas was with me and he was a G1 winner. It’s a good story.”
In Qatar, Sanna has managed to establish himself as one of its leading jockeys, and currently lies second in a championship decided by prize-money, despite operating as a freelance with no major backer.
Crisis at home
He now calls it home, having quit his native Italy in 2012 when the sport fell into crisis and prize-money payments became delayed – when they actually arrived at all, which was by no means certain – and joining the many Italian jockeys who now earn their living elsewhere.
It has been a successful move. Sanna has won nearly every big race in Qatar, including three editions of the Amir’s Trophy, and has lifted championships both there and in Bahrain.
In 2017 he got an offer to ride in Hong Kong and stayed for over two years, establishing himself as a dependable rider, until the Jockey Club declined to re-licence him in December 2019 in the wake of a ten-day meeting ban for allegedly not taking all reasonable and permissible measures.
It was a decision he did not agree with, struggled to accept and led to him taking nine months off.
Tempted back to Qatar
With the pandemic taking hold, Sanna returned to Italy, eventually returning to the saddle there before he was tempted back to Qatar for the 2020-21 campaign for winter and Italy for the summer.
“Qatar was where I returned to action,” he explains. “In 2021, I started pretty well [won the Dukhan Sprint and Amir Trophy] and I won the 2,000 Guineas [Premio Parioli] in Italy with a maiden.
“Then I won that race for a third time last year when I had a job in Germany with Henk Grewe, but it lasted only 35 days.”
He explains: “I didn’t like Germany. It’s different from every other environment I have worked in and it didn’t work out so I left and was back in Qatar early.”
While Sanna has continued to make his mark in Qatar, February was a rewarding month as he was also among the winners at the Saudi Cup meeting, steering the Fawzi Nass-trained Qaader to victory in the $500,000 Saudi International Handicap.
Now he hopes to garner more notices on Dubai World Cup night where he is set to team up again with Russian Emperor in the G1 Sheema Classic, the pair having run an eyecatching fifth in the G1 Jebel Hatta on Super Saturday.
“It was a very good run,” reflects Sanna. “We wanted to run in Dubai but they don’t have trials like they do in Hong Kong so the best way to get to the Sheema Classic was to run him again.
“It would have been too long a gap from the Amir Trophy to the Sheema Classic. Also it had been a long time since he had run anti-clockwise and he had never run under the lights before.”
He adds: “The Sheema Classic is going to be a very tough race with two big horses from Japan, last year’s winner Shahryar and Equinox as well as Godolphin’s Breeders’ Cup winner Rebel’s Romance. I think it’s the toughest race on the night but I am pretty confident my horse will run a good race.”
The Sheema Classic will be one of the richest races Sanna has ridden in but he hopes it will be one of many if he is to achieve his goals.
More focussed
“I am trying to keep myself riding Group winners, which is the best thing to do as a jockey,” he explains. “But it’s not easy to do it when you are a freelance and even if I won a big race in Italy, nobody cares about it.
“I am more focussed now, stronger. I have always been good in the big races because I can handle pressure. I am not so good in a Class 3 or Class 4, but in a Group race I am always there. This year I won two Oaks in one day in Qatar.”
He goes on: “Qatar is not enough – I want to be an international jockey. From the outside Qatar looks the best place but even now I am struggling to get the best rides. When it comes to the big day you can still get pushed off for French or English jockeys. That’s why I am working on getting my own rides from outside.”
More success could also help determine his summer destination. “I am looking around to see what is the best opportunity this summer,” he says. “I have an offer in Italy and one in France so far. We will see what happens.”
• Visit the Dubai Racing Club website and the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club website
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