A man on a racing mission

Leading jockey Alberto Sanna is out to ride “as many winners as he can”

Talented and ambitious, the Sicilian-born jockey

Alberto Sanna is very content with his life in Qatar. He is a man who has established his work life balance in his favour and is now happily optimising life for himself, his family and his career.

When Winning Circle phoned Sanna for this interview, the call was initially turned down. Not to be discouraged, we phoned back and this time the call was answered.

“Hi Alberto, we are just phoning for the interview as we agreed before, is this an ok to speak?,” we said.

Sanna answered: “Apologies, I was just on the phone organising my upcoming rides, I have been asked by trainer Fawzi Nass to ride Los Andes, he runs this week in the qualifier for the Saudi Cup.”

Sanna, an international go-to jockey, is a man very much used to making things happen for himself – he is a freelance jockey in Qatar and does not use an agent, he phones and organises all his own rides.

Highly practical, he says, “Nobody can look better after yourself than yourself!”

In Sicily, Sanna’s family did not have any interest in horses, but as a toddler he was put on a horse which, even at such a nearly age, ignited an interest. As a teenager he was given a horse for a birthday present, and the young man was smitten.

He recalls: “I always dreamed of being a jockey and spent a lot of time looking at magazines, newspapers and the reports – then there was no internet and there was only one meeting a week in a Sunday.

“At home we had pets and chickens, but on my 14th birthday Dad gave me horse and a bridle. We did not have a saddle so I rode bareback! After school I would do my school work and then ride all evening – we had a forest next to the house and I would ride all around there. It was my life until I was 17.” His family would not let the budding jockey entertain ideas of a riding career until he had finished his education, but as soon as he has able he was signed on at the jockeys’ school in Pisa.

Despite having to leave his Sicilian home and live in a city far away and over the Tyrrhenian Sea, the young man did not suffer from home sickness – he was so immersed in the learning experience, working hard, embracing the opportunity and appreciating the start that he had been given. For a short time, the well-run school became home from home.

He modestly says that initially he had “little talent”, but he was granted his apprentice license and after 38 rides kicked home his first winner, within 20 hours he had added a second.

“I ended that first season with five winners, and then the following season I lost my claim – I rode 50 winners and won the Italian apprentice title,” he reports.

“ When I was 22, I won my first Classic, the Italian 2,000 Guineas, which was brilliant, but I also had some significant down points through my early career – I had a lot of injures and I was out every season for three or four months, it slowed it all down significantly.”

The man openly admits that riding success coming at such a young age was a little too much for him to handle.

“I am Italian – I like clothes, I liked showing off, I bought expensive cars. I went around doing some silly and pretty stupid things,” he remembers with a rue smile.

Sanna’s time to grow up arrived as a 26-year-old when he met his wife, and a year later his daughter was born. He knew then it was time to get his head down, concentrate on his career and provide a living for his young family.

A call came from Bahrain to ride, the timing was right for a move and the jockey found his way to the Middle East.

“I had enough of Italian racing and was ready to travel and prove myself abroad. My daughter was tiny, and it was tough. I did not know the language, there was no internet.

“But the move was a good teacher of life, because I changed my attitude and started to work properly. Then I got a call to ride in the Guineas in Qatar and I started to spend time between the two countries before relocating to Qatar.”

Hong Kong came knocking for him to ride in 2017 after a space in the jockey ranks became available through injury to one of its members. Sanna relished the opportunity and feels it is where he learnt the most and that the experience really took his riding forward. However, the intense environment in the Far East was not an atmosphere in which he thrived as a person. Sanna has now ridden in eight different countries, won a championship in Bahrain and Qatar, and ridden Classic winners in Europe, but he has made the Gulf region and Qatar his home. He visits Italy now on a “busman’s holiday” and makes those trips a success – last October he won the Premio Lydia Tesio (G2) on Romagna Mia and the previous May took the Italian 2,000 Guineas on See Hector for German trainer Henk Grewe.

“I have seen a lot of changes in Qatar over the time I have been here both at the racecourse and life in general,” reflects Sanna. “There is a new racecourse, which has an amazing surface, things have really stepped up a level in the last few years. The racing is now on the global stage.

“ The prize-money is very good and we are happy with that.”

Looking a little more broadly, he adds: “Qatar racing is a really good place for families because there is no betting, it is a good place for the kids to come and see the horses. When I was young I Iiked to see the horses and the races, that really set the interest for me.

“ The local Qataris and Arab people love horses and they are part of the region’s tradition.”

Now in his 20th year as a jockey, Sanna reflects on his past hero “My idol was Gerald Mosse – now he is good friend of mine!”

With the benefits of experience, he has thoughts as to how a young person should develop his or her riding skills: “I think that the younger riders need to listen to the older generation and listen to advice from the older jockeys, I think that is the most important thing.

“But they also they need to look at the race, don’t just think in terms of the prize-money or the reward. They need to focus on the horses, their own behaviour with owners and the trainers, and learn how to work with horses – if they become good horse people then they will be good jockeys.”

He is a firm believer in the importance of exercise and the need to be as fit as possible for race riding. His exercise regime of choice is on his bike and Sanna puts in many hours and relishes the opportunity to get around Qatar, although at present most of his bike riding is in the gym.

He also appreciates what an individual life a jockey can have and the opportunities it creates.

“It is a really strange job, in the morning you can be talking to the groom who is brushing your horse, in the evening you can be chatting with a prince, a sheikh or a queen,” he says. “In just one day you can have many experiences, there are not many jobs like that when you can be talking to everyone right from the base to the very top in 24 hours.

“You also have to be very grateful to the people who work behind the scenes, they work hard with the horses. The jockeys are only briefly in the newspaper, for instance, I rode Noor Al Hawa eight times and won seven races on him, some of the biggest in Qatar, but I never rode him in the morning.”

Sanna nominates the Al Wasmiyah Farm-owned superstar horse as the best he has ridden in Qatar. Those big race success included the HH The Amir Trophy in 2021 when the pair beat Berkshire Rocco. Now a ten-year-old, the son of Makfi is at stud in France at Haras du Grand Courgeon.

“I am never ashamed to ring up an owner for a ride, this is business,” he smiles, adding: “But as a freelance it is very hard to find the rides on the big day. Two years ago I won three races on Amir Sword day, I think it will be difficult to do it again.”

At the time of writing, this season Sanna has ridden in 281 races in Qatar, more than any other jockey, and that is in spite journeying abroad most weekends to ride. He has ridden 32 winners and won QAR 230,798 in prize-money earnings. He admits he has little free time to pursue other interests and the Italian, who supports Juventus, has even put football to one side in his pursuit of winners.

“I have always loved to win the best races, but I was champion jockey in Bahrain and champion jockey in Qatar, and the more you eat the more you get hungry! Now I want to win everything! I want to prove that I am a good jockey and I am able to ride more winners than anyone.”