Trainer Michael Costa has accepted a position as the private trainer for Sheikh Ahmed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum based in Dubai.
As reported on www.punters.com.au Costa said that in January he received a call from Dubai just when he was going to bed.
“It was a bizarre number and I didn’t answer it because I thought it was a telemarketer or something,” Costa said.
“But they left a message, so I called back. It was a representative of the Sheikh and they said they had been looking around the world for a trainer and ‘[had] come across me and done their due diligence.”
Costa revealed, “I initially told them I didn’t want to waste their time too much, I feel like a pig in mud training on the Gold Coast and I’ve got a good business with good momentum and I felt like I could be in the top couple in the (Brisbane metropolitan training) premiership within a decade. But they came back to me with an offer and said they wanted me to go over to Dubai and have a look at their facility, so that’s what I did and it has all come together pretty quickly in the last couple of months.”
Adding to the allure, Costa noted, “In Dubai they race five months of the year and the obligations outside of the racing season are to go to Royal Ascot and to go to other sales around the place. I wouldn’t get the opportunity to take my kids to those sort of places while based in Australia as I work 365 days a year here.”
In a message to his owners and staff on Facebook, an emotional Costa said that he felt that he was letting them all down but that the opportunity was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
All going to plan, Costa and his family, including his three sons aged 2, 5 and 7, will be heading to Dubai in the coming months.
- Breeding & Racing
