NEXT UP

Better known as Harry, the 37-year-old rider took a three-month leave from Singapore Turf Club to pursue his dream of riding in the Middle East last October, albeit he did fly back to ride at the last three Kranji meetings, including the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) on November 19 where he finished fourth aboard Trumpy.

While he first landed in Saudi Arabia three months ago in search of riding opportunities, A'Isisuhairi ended up riding in six races (unplaced) in Dubai, all for trainer Saeed Al Shamsi during his three-week stay in December.

"While I was waiting for my licence to be approved in Saudi Arabia, I went to visit a friend in Dubai who encouraged me to get a licence there instead," said A'Isisuhairi, who has also ridden in Malaysia and New Zealand.

"He brought me to Saeed's stables when I was there in November before I flew back to Singapore to ride. We have no racing in Singapore in December, so I thought it was a good chance for me to ride in Dubai as I have gotten my licence.

"After the last race meeting here on 26th November, I went over to his stables on 3rd December and worked for him.

"I stayed there for three weeks and rode in six rides, all for Saeed. They were fair horses, but it was a good experience.

"I last rode on 22nd December (finished seventh on Wild Son in Abu Dhabi), but I still hung around till the weekends to do the last gallops for him.

"Thanks to him, I learned what Arabic culture and how racing in UAE (United Arab Emirates) was like. I also met (ex-Kranji jockeys) Oscar (Chavez) and Bernardo (Pinheiro) at the races.

"It's not easy to start with when I'm a nobody there, so I didn't expect much."

Though the former two-time Singapore champion apprentice jockey had planned to stay longer for his Dubai venture initially, it was when his pregnant wife, Jannah, and 10-month-old daughter, Bibi Nayla Medina, could not make the trip there that the family-oriented Malaysian jockey decide that he did not want to be away from his young family.

"I could ride till late January in Dubai since I've already applied for a three-month leave, but I miss my family a lot, especially now that my wife is pregnant with a baby boy," said the Kelantan-born rider, who rode the Stephen Gray-trained Wecando to third in barrier trial 4 on Tuesday morning.

"The baby is due in April. They wanted to come and visit me in December, but the flight tickets were expensive. I don't want to be far away from my family for so long either, so I flew back one day after Christmas and started to ride in trackwork and barrier trials the next day (December 27).

"Last Wednesday, I took my wife and daughter to Bali for a short vacation. We came back on Sunday morning and I rode trackwork yesterday and this morning.

"There were also a few trainers here asking me if I could ride in January, so I really appreciate the support I get in Singapore."

A'Isisuhairi, who finished seventh on the jockeys' log on 23 wins (tied with jockey Marc Lerner but sits back on a lesser countback for seconds) last season, will be busy with 10 bookings (excluding Emergency Acceptor 1 Sayonara) at the first race meeting of the new year on Saturday, including Sky Eye for trainer Jason Lim in the $100,000 Kranji Stakes A race (1100m).

"I have 10 rides and they are for a number of trainers like Jason (Lim), my ex-boss Steven Burridge, Ricardo (Le Grange), Leslie (Khoo) and Jerome (Tan)," he said.

"It's the first time I'm riding Sky Eye in a race. We did a slow canter last week and he felt well and in good shape. I'll canter him again on Thursday morning.

"It's an open race this time, so I hope he gets a good draw tomorrow and a good run in transit.

"For the past 10 years since I started riding here (in 2012), I win at least one Group race every year but I missed out on it last year. It's okay, I hope to win again this year to make up for that.

"With my boy coming, it will be a huge year for me and my family and this motivates me a lot. I want to be very focused on my riding career in Singapore for now.

"I am really looking forward to the new season and I want to get as many winners as I can."