It takes a lot to interrupt Alberto Sanna’s never-ending fitness regimen. The Italian jockey is renowned for his dedication to maintaining an elite level of physical performance, from running up Hong Kong mountains between trackwork, to riding his bicycle for hours along Qatar’s desert roads.
But when the alarm sounds and the distant explosions of a Patriot defence system knocking Iranian drones and missiles out of the blue Arabian sky can be heard, he knows caution is the better way. Government advice is followed, the road bike is collecting dust, he has even paused his regular work of riding horses at trackwork even though they are still in exercise, while racing at Al Rayyan and Al Uqda racecourses is suspended.
Instead, he puts in the work on his stationary gym bike, pedalling away on the balcony of his family apartment in Qatar’s Pearl development. Looking out over tranquil turquoise waters, white-gold sand, verdant park, and glass and steel towers gleaming in the bright sunlight, it’s a classic 21st century Arabian Gulf scene. Then the alarm.
The alarm sounds on everyone’s phone, squealing out an alert and a text message telling of an imminent missile and drone strike. When it’s over, another phone message gives the all-clear
Qatar’s two-time champion jockey says for the most part he feels safe and protected, that the strikes are targeting the U.S. base on the other side of the capital, Doha, about 45km away from where he is and about 20km from Al Rayyan.
“It’s like a kind of thunderstorm,” he says of the distant explosions, “the sound is similar to a thunderstorm,” and points out how alien an experience this is for a western European, blessed to have been born in 1985 and raised in the safety of Sardinia.
“The only thing that makes it more stressful is the moment the alarm sounds,” Sanna continues. “They send you an alarm like five to three minutes before. Even if you put the phone in sleeping mode or without any sound, every phone in the flat starts to scream at the same time, which, you know, this makes you a bit afraid. And then you wait for the missiles to arrive, but thankfully, with the Patriot missile, they intercepted everything.”
It’s been a daily reality for almost two weeks now, a surreal existence of experiencing fear as well as a sense of security, while feeling thankful that it is not worse, that it is not bombed and battered Tehran.
“Already twice today, around 8:15 this morning and just 15 minutes ago there was another attack,” he says. “But they are intercepting the missiles and since this started, I think, we’ve had only eight minor injuries to people.
“So the defence system is doing very well, but people are also very conscious about it and very concerned. I think it is safe to go out, but people are not going out without reason, the government says don’t go out unless it is necessary so we follow that.”
Sanna and his wife have entered a routine of going to the grocery store only once a week now to minimize the time spent outdoors. With schools in Qatar closed, his children have switched to online classes.
The only one seemingly unaffected by the drama of the situation is the family’s three-year-old white-faced whippet, Monet, named for the impressionist painter after his children visited a gallery and saw the artist’s work.
“He’s always sleeping, whippets love to sleep so he doesn’t bother about these kinds of things. If he does go out, he runs for a couple of minutes then wants to come home to sleep, he just likes to sleep. He lives his life.”
Sanna is sleeping more, too, but he says it is not good sleep, that’s what the technology he uses to monitor his health and fitness is telling him. He uses an app called Whoop, utilised by many athletes including jockeys and footballers.
“It tracks your strain, your heart rate, and your recovery, it’s very good to help you not to overtrain and you can track your strain during the race, it’s the only device you can use also in the race,” he says.
“It tracks your calories and you cannot imagine the number of calories you burn in a racing day. And I know now I burn more riding dirt races than turf, and at the beginning of the season, when the heat is higher and probably my fitness is not at the top because it’s coming after the off season, I can burn more than 5,300 calories that day.”
But the basic data is also suggesting Sanna is – without realising it – being affected physically by the subconscious stresses of being in a conflict zone.
“I always check my recovery after training, I check my insight with Whoop,” he says. “Usually, I am always in the green zone: I sleep well, I recover well. Now, with this situation, the recovery is in the yellow, sometimes in the red zone, because even though you sleep more hours, your sleep is not recovery sleep because you’re always in alert, you never know what’s next.”
One upside to the situation is that it is enabling Sanna to undertake a fuller recovery from the ankle fracture he suffered last month, but, on the flipside of that, having missed a portion of the season through injury, and now the stoppage because of the war, his income is affected.
“We’ll see if the season can start again here, but if not, I will plan to go back to Europe to keep riding,” he says. “I’ve been already out of the business … from my injury, so at some point I have to come back and start riding again.
“I cannot stay away from racing for such a long time. But at this particular period it’s better to be here and be more safe with the family and everyone. So, let’s see what’s next because nobody knows what’s going to happen in even a few hours and the next days, so let’s see.”
Sanna had been asked about going to ride in Bahrain, which also has since shut down racing. He declined, not wanting to drive through Saudi Arabia and across the 25km causeway bridge to Bahrain at such a time.
And he believes the decision to stop racing in Qatar and Bahrain has been the correct one.
“How can you ride in races when you are riding in the race and you might hear the explosions in the sky. Come on, we are going nearly 70km per hour on the horses, which are an average 440kg each. If you feel these things happening above you, you are not concentrated, so it can be even dangerous for your job and for the others as well.
“I’m more mature now, I’m not doing the stupid things, no, we should wait and see what’s next because this situation is unpredictable.
“In the end,” he adds, “racing for us is very important but it’s just a sport. Don’t forget that. Lives are more important.” ∎
