Emerald Shines Bright For Powell

By Emma Berry
When Dark Emerald (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) lines up for the $1 million G2 Godolphin Mile Saturday, it won't just be a Dubai World Cup night first for the horse but also for his trainer Brendan Powell and jockey Adam Kirby.

Though an admirable campaigner at home in England, with five wins to his credit prior to shipping to Dubai, the hardy 5-year-old has been something of a revelation since his arrival in the UAE in early January. From four starts on the turf at Meydan he has won twice and been second twice, most recently finishing runner-up to Safety Check (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G2 Zabeel Mile Feb. 26.

“The first time he ran I came over for a week to see the setup,” said the Irish-born Powell, whose success as a jump jockey included winning the 1988 Grand National on Rhyme 'n' Reason. Since setting up as a trainer in 2000, he has prepared horses under both codes and currently has 23 Flat horses alongside his “10 or 12 jumpers.”

He continued, “In Lambourn, we're so used to hill gallops and I got there and thought 'how am I going to train him?' We thought we'd run him twice and see how we got on. At the minute his work has improved so much I'm now wondering how I'm going to train him back in England, but a lot of it has to do with the warm weather and he's really blossomed since he's been out here.”

As well as putting the finishing touches to the biggest runner of his career, Powell is also in the process of moving his horses from his Berkshire yard to next-door to David Lanigan at Kingsdown Stables, the former home to fellow World Cup night runner Main Sequence (Alderbaran). Though frustrating, the move takes him only a mile up the road, to a new base at Frenchman's Lodge.

While the trainer has been commuting between his horses in Lambourn and his stable star in Dubai, Dark Emerald has been looked after during his time at Meydan by Tom Cox.

“Tom's done a wonderful job with him–he used to be a bit of wild lad but he's stepped up and taken the responsibility for him over here while I've been to and fro. I think he and the horse have grown up together,” said the trainer, who first set eyes on Dark Emerald at the Goffs breeze-up sale in 2012.

He recalled, “The horse had another 2-year-old leading him and that doesn't happen very often these days. He was being pushed along past us but then I watched him go past the winning post and he half looked at the bend and his rider Rory Cleary gave him a slap on the shoulder and he just took off and galloped on halfway down the back straight. So we went and saw him with Bobby O'Ryan and we bought him–his owners Ken and Caroline Rhatigan loved him. He ran against some good horses in nice maidens at two and all his form was good. Then he came back and won first time out at three–he's best fresh, really.”

Having been bought by the Rhatigans for £26,000 ($38,750), Dark Emerald now has earnings in excess of £215,000, with almost three-quarters of that tally having been earned in Dubai alone.

“I've nicknamed him the slumdog millionaire. He just keeps doing it for us,” says Powell, who admits to relief that his pride and joy failed the strict vetting process required for Hong Kong when an offer came for him early in his racing career.

He added, “He's never taken a lame step. He had some work done on his back when I noticed he was moving a bit short last year but he's been very sound. Last year he was running in the good handicaps at Goodwood and Ascot and he kept running well, finishing third and fourth, and that kept his mark high. I'm glad it did as we crept up to about a mark of 98 and I started to think he might be one to take to Dubai.”

He continued, “I said to Ken that there was prizemoney down to sixth in these races and if he ran a couple of races in fourth or fifth he might pick up £15,000. We figured it would cost us £10,000 to come so we thought we might make a little bit but mostly have a bit of fun. He's now won £158,000. Before him I'd never even had a runner in a listed race and now he's been second in a Group 2.”

Powell is deservedly enjoying his chance to shine on the big stage as a trainer, just as he once did in his riding days. The skills he possessed as a jockey have been inherited by both his children. Brendan Jr, 20, rides over jumps primarily for Colin Tizzard and his sister Jenny, 18, is a Flat apprentice formerly with Brown Panther's trainer Tom Dascombe but now attached to Henry Candy's stable after a winter riding trackwork in the U.S. for Simon Callaghan.
Powell said, “I'm proud of them both and they're both a lot cooler in their races than I ever was–they are much more patient. When I rode in big races I was never nervous and I was never particularly animated when I won but with Dark Emerald this is something else. You're out there with all the big trainers–Saeed bin Suroor came and congratulated me after his first win and I didn't think he even knew who I was.”

Dark Emerald will face 15 rivals for the biggest challenge of his career on Saturday–and his first on the dirt–but the battler won't be running scared and neither will his trainer.

“He's a tough horse and he doesn't like to let others pass him. He's been on the dirt for three and a half weeks and he's been training great. We've been working on making sure he jumps out of the stalls quickly–all I want is for him to get out of the gate and be handy. Whatever he does, he's already done us proud.”

Powell added, “Being here in Dubai means an awful lot and we've had so much support from people, it's just brilliant. I think it helps the sport to see smaller owners and trainers having some success like this. It makes everyone think that one day they could have a chance against some of the big names.”