Ahmed Ajtebi was racing camels until he sat down to lunch with the Ruler of Dubai. Now he is a familiar face in paddocks across the horse-racing world, with his sights set on an Epsom Derby win. Jonny Beardsall meets the UAE’s only home-grown jockey.

Ajtebi rides Dubawi Phantom in the Jaguar All-New XJ Autumn Stakes at Ascot last October. Scott Harvey / Action Images

From the sanctuary of the jockeys’ room at Newmarket racecourse, a diminutive rider from Dubai flashes his beaming smile on a warm July evening in eastern England. “I’m Ahmed Ajtebi. I’ll shower and be with you in a minute,” he says in good, cheerful English, before skedaddling back into the thatched-roofed building to change from royal blue silks to a smart grey suit.

Not that this most likeable 29-year-old, a one-time camel jockey, could be mistaken for anyone else. With deep olive skin, sunken chestnut eyes and short dark hair, he is more supremely skinny than short. His narrow face and chiselled cheekbones imply that he counts the calories, although, at a shade more than 51 kilos, he is sylphlike and so has no need to suffer the extreme deprivation that many jockeys put themselves through.

Another win three days earlier, riding for one of the two super-power Godolphin stables of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Ruler of Dubai, had taken Ajtebi’s career tally to 96, a magic number that sees him turn from apprentice to senior jockey.

Given that the sheikh’s other yard retains the celebrated Frankie Dettori – who has ridden more than 3,000 winners – you can imagine Ajtebi has to pinch himself everyday to check he isn’t dreaming.

Simon Crisford, Godolphin’s racing manager, says he doesn’t need to. “Ahmed has done really well. It’s great having him working for our stable and he’s a very popular member of the team. He is an extremely nice man.”

Two years ago Ajtebi’s perfect white teeth first grinned from the sports pages when he became the only Emirati jockey to ride a winner at Royal Ascot. A year later he pulled off the double of his life for Godolphin at the World Cup in Nad al Sheba when he took the Dubai Duty Free race with an inspired piece of front-running on the locally trained Gladiatorus. The same day he snatched victory on the line on Eastern Anthem in a thrilling three-way finish in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

“It was amazing. I was an apprentice and in the space of half an hour I’d ridden two Group 1 winners and won £4 million (Dh22 million) in prize money. Best of all, my dad was there to see me,” he says.

It got better. In November, he won at the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in Santa Anita, California, entering the winner’s enclosure on Vale of York with the UAE flag draped across his back.

This afternoon in Newmarket is bread-and-butter stuff. He has come fifth in a lowly race for two-year-old fillies worth £4,000 (Dh22,000) to the winner. In the unsaddling enclosure he exchanges a few thoughts with trainer Mahmood al Zarooni, also from Dubai, and then sets off across the manicured lawns to weigh-in, his tiny saddle over his forearm, his working day almost done.

As the UAE’s only home-grown jockey, Ajtebi is still pretty unfathomable to British racing. Some will say that purely royal connections – he is the nephew of one of Sheikh Mohammed’s long-standing friends, Saeed Manana – provide his golden opportunities. It is likely that some are envious but none can say that he isn’t making the most of his advantages. He comes with implacable self-belief and, so far, it hasn’t deserted him in or out of the saddle.

“People look at me and say this is the guy from Dubai. I feel that when I ride I do so for my country,” he says, glancing at his showy Chopard wristwatch with the lapis lazuli face, which is thicker than his wrist. “I can’t stop now. I love it and always try my best for those supporting me.”

But unlike most of his weighing room colleagues who could ride before they could walk, Ajtebi didn’t sit on a horse until he was 22. Not that he lacked racecourse experience: as a precocious six-year-old, he was race-riding camels at home, only putting away his whip at 14 when his weight rose above 25kg. By then, he had amassed more than 200 winners from 3,000 rides, mostly for his father, who died last year.

“Dad owned and trained 50 animals a 25-minute drive from the centre of Dubai city,” says Ajtebi.

Seven years ago, when still very much involved with training his father’s camels, he fell into conversation over lunch with Sheikh Mohammed. “He said the UAE had horses in training everywhere in the world, but Dubai had no jockey and would I like the chance to become one. I told him that I had never ridden a horse in my life, but he pushed me.”

In 2003, he and two other Dubai-born apprentices were sent to Ireland to gain experience. Ajtebi was seconded to trainer John Oxx’s stable for four months. “I couldn’t speak any English – I picked it up because I had to,” he says. Back in Dubai, he had his first ride at Nad Al Sheba and became apprenticed to the Dubai trainer Ali al Raihe. His first win came a year later on Al Tharb at Geelong, Australia, where he incurred a Dh600 fine for his over-exuberant celebrations.

After two summers in South Africa he arrived in England in 2007. Clive Brittain, the much-revered Newmarket trainer, became his mentor. “Ahmed came to me as an ordinary apprentice. I find him very genuine. I was very impressed with his work and his dedication. I gave him 17 rides and he rode six winners and he rides one for me tomorrow,” he says.

Since then Ajtebi has remained on a merry-go-round, which takes him from the UAE, where he rides in winter, to Britain, where he rides all summer, with short missions to Europe, the US, Australia and South Africa.

“Britain is the place to improve in racing because it has so many different racecourses,” he says. “Last year I rode a double at the new course, Ffos Las, in Wales, on the day it opened, which made me feel really good.”

Ajtebi has come a long way from racing camels, a ride with scant similarities to a racehorse. “They both have four legs and run very fast,” he says, laughing out loud, which he does often. “The saddles are different, you have no irons, you have one rein and a long camel stick, which you use to try and keep it straight.” Still smiling he hops into his smart Mercedes, for the short drive to his home.

Ajtebi lives alone in Duchess Park, a 26-acre new development in a splurge of tree-lined green space to the south side of Newmarket’s High Street. For a while he has felt like a desert nomad. Although someone has now moved in next door, most of the recently built houses remain unoccupied.

His is a smart yet unremarkable five-bedroom home with a garden in which only a satellite dish has been planted; it badly needs someone to make an oasis, to create the smells an Arab must miss, to grow fruit and roses on the empty lawn.

“Welcome, do come in,” he says, unlocking the white door and stepping inside. He is polite, helpful and courteous; he pours coffee for me and tea without milk for himself with one spoon of sugar. He opens a box of dark chocolates from Harrods and switches off the World Cup that was playing to itself on the large screen television in the sitting room.

He has a young family in Dubai. “My wife, Tahani, stays in Dubai where the children are at school. I have three girls – Mezna, eight, Dhabya, three, and Bakhita, two – and one boy, Mohammed, who is seven, with another child on the way,” he says. “I hope they’ll be coming over soon. I ring home all the time. I sometimes call my mum twice a day, before and after a race.”

His rooms are starkly unrevealing; furnished in the bland style of a show home, the neutral-hued walls and carpets, leather sofas, chairs and coffee table and the shiny kitchen and the beds came with the house. But for framed photographs of Sheikh Mohammed and another of one of the ruler’s sons riding in endurance races and a small snapshot above the fireplace of himself – with a beard – riding in the US, all other meaningless pictures were here when he moved in.

“I don’t have time for furniture shopping,” he says, which is true. Like most professional Flat jockeys he doesn’t have a moment in summer for anything other than racing. “In Britain you are always travelling. Tomorrow I will ride in Newmarket before riding at Doncaster and Newcastle, so I won’t be back till late. The next day, I’ll get up at 5am, drive to Stansted airport, then fly to ride in the Irish Derby. Again I won’t be home before midnight.”

So how does he find his way about? “Sometimes I have a driver, but often I drive myself. It’s easy with satellite navigation… I find the postcode for the course, then away I go. I don’t need a map.”

The Racing Post – the British horse racing daily newspaper – is the extent of his reading material. He doesn’t possess many books, and racing is all he watches on TV, usually his own rides, which he pre-records for post mortems. The weekend we meet, Glastonbury Festival, Wimbledon Tennis Championships and the World Cup are all being staged but he has no interest in any of them, he says.

On a low coffee table lies a recently opened packet of dates. “They give me energy. I’m the only one in the weighing room eating dates. No one else really likes them, so I can safely leave them lying around.” On a worktop, the drifting fragrance from a ceramic jar of aromatic oil fills the rooms, reminding him of the souks and marbled halls back home.

He has a cleaner, so the place is immaculate. There isn’t much in his giant stainless-steel fridge: lettuce, tomatoes, a few eggs, nothing too enticing. “I can cook but, actually, I’m not a big eater. I go to the supermarket in town and live a European life. I’m used to it. My weight is good. But I don’t go drinking or clubbing, I’m not that sort of person.”

Unselfconsciously, he underlines his special relationship with the Ruler of Dubai. He is seeing him later that evening at the Shiekh’s mansion on the edge of town. “Like my car, this house was a gift from him [Sheikh Mohammed]. He feels like he’s my dad. When my father passed away last year, he became closer to me. He treats me as if I am his son.

“He has pushed me so hard… with his money, his horses and his experience.”

So how on earth does Ajtebi cope with the weight of so much expectation? He pauses. “He never puts me under pressure. He has taught me to say what I think. If I disagree about the distance a horse needs or how to ride it, he wants me to say so, and we speak on the phone before and after every race.”

Ajtebi is determined to win the Epsom Derby one day. He had his first ride in the race this year on Buzzword after flying in from Newmarket with his boss in his helicopter. He came eighth. “For me it is the greatest race in the world and I loved riding in front of the Queen of England. One day I hope I’ll succeed,” he says.

As one of only a handful of jockeys riding for stables that always run horses in the Derby, it is not implausible that one day this extraordinarily lucky man just might just pull it off.

The boxing champion is in Dubai to promote Meydan’s World Cup footie events. He talks sport, allergies and Frank Bruno with Charley Court.

We hear you’re attending Meydan’s World Cup events while you’re in Dubai.
I’m really excited. I’m a massive football fan and gutted I can’t make the World Cup in South Africa. Now it’s finally here, why not make a big thing of it? That’s what they’re doing at Meydan.

Will you be riding any horses?
[Laughs] I don’t ride too often. I found out I’m allergic to horses.

Really? What happens?
I think it’s the flies, but my face and ears start swelling up and my eyes start watering.

Talking of footie, didn’t you score in a Soccer Aid charity match in the UK last week?
Yes – it was unbelievable. I don’t know how the lads at the World Cup feel when they take a penalty, but I got nervous just doing a charity match. I was scared to death. But I have to say mine was the best penalty.

You’ve also been busy launching a clothing range, opening a fitness club, working on Hatton Boxing TV, and mentoring young amateur boxers through Hatton Promotions. Which project has meant the most to you?
Everything, really. I want to do a bit for the youngsters. That’s why I’m here in Dubai. There’s not a lot of boxing in this part of the world, so I’m hoping I can introduce the sport to the Middle East.

White-collar boxing is pretty big over here…
Yeah, who knows? There could be a world of talent out here waiting to be discovered.

Who has been your friendliest boxing opponent?
Paulie Malignaggi [an Italian-American boxer from NYC]. He was really friendly – a bit of a loudmouth before the fight, but he was a genuine and sincere lad. It was the first time I had to hug my opponent after a fight – he cried in the ring, so I put my arms around him to comfort him.

What really winds you up?
[Laughs] I’m actually quite a laid-back guy. But Manchester City [Ricky’s team] haven’t done too well lately and [Manchester] United have, which really gets under my skin.

What has been your most memorable boxing moment?
My win against [Russian-born Aussie boxer] Kostya Tszyu and, through boxing, getting an MBE from the Queen of England. Not many boxers have achieved that.

What do you make of Dubai?
I absolutely love it; it’s hotter than Manchester, that’s for sure. It’s an exciting place that’s always developing. I’m just really enjoying being here.

What do you have planned for the rest of your time here?
I’m doing some speeches. It’s nice to talk to people about my career – it’s my way of saying thank you.

Finally, who is your all-time favourite boxer?
Roberto Duran from Panama. He was exciting, fearless; he never took a step back. I try to model myself on him, my hero.

Meydan’s World Cup screenings, featuring live commentary from Sam Allardyce, Peter Reid and more, continue until July 11. Tickets are Dhs375, including food, drinks and entertainment, from www.robandderek.com.

“Grab that, grab that darling, he’s making it to the finish – YeeaaAAY!” The pretty pert thing in a flaming red micro mini and a gold veiled hat took swift aim, capturing the moment on her Canon D200. “Yipeee Mike, that’s whadda like!”, she squealed gleefully, drawing on a cigarette.

As the crowd roared in orchestrated unison , the winning horse romping home across the finishing lines, Champagne corks spurted into the scenery and curvaceous forms slurped flutes in uninhibited abandon. What else could be de rigeuer at Dubai’s ultra-futuristic , glittering new world class Meydan Racecourse.

We weathered the adrenalin with baited breaths and sultry discomfort. The rising mercury didn’t deter the annual enthusiasm of honchos and bombshells who’d flocked the new venue for the world’s costliest, richest and most honoured racing event. Dubai race goers were there in full fettle, cigars, hombres, Barclays, stetsons, Burberry jackets et al. As the steeds flexed their sinews over the moist tracks under billion-watt glares and digital clocking, necks and intellect craned (including us) to get more than an eyeful of the zipping wins to the finish. Multi-up photo-finish frames declared the triumphant winner of the staggering US$ 10 million Dubai World Cup, Gloria de Campeao.

This Brazilian-bred , French-trained and Swedish-owned six year old phenomenon on fours ridden by Tiago Pereira blazed to victory over ‘Lizard’s Desire’ (jockey, Kevin Shea) and Godolphin’s Allybar by Emirati Jockey Ahmad Ajtebi and other close-call contenders.

But as horses stole the thunder down on the brand new track, on the stands and enclosures a new breed of freedom sashayed parallel attention for roving cameras and video makers. So we encountered babes and belles kow-towing towering hunks and Harley Davidson physique cat-walked their hour glass stats around the events that made memories for the cognoscenti.

Lapping up flashlight attention and visual pampering were voluptuous vixens in shorty short numbers and candy headgear, revealing forms and unpretentious norms lining up for a beauty pageant where more male attraction magnetized looks rather than the winning thirst itself!

Teeny-weeny minis created a flutter and over-the-shoulder winks as flowy ensembles , plenty of peek-a-boos , lots of slender legs balancing on trendy stilettos, metallic blushes and vantage tans made for juicy tabloid tattle. As frothy steins and wine goblets enhanced the mood magic by the quaffsful , the enthusiasm of vanity overtook the actual assemblage of sporting frenzy by light years.

With every visit to Dubai, our eyes capture the diametrical assertion of its mind blowing, iconic architecture and spiraling landmarks, synergized with gallop-ahead fashion trends and uplifting styles. At the city’s endless number of jazzy boutiques and designer temples at the world’s largest Dubai Mall, the Cross-Continental theme wonder of the Ibn Battuta Mall and The Mall of The Emirates with it’s freeze-to-tease ‘Ski Dubai’ slopes, we found affluence cascading down millions on the very finest in body consciousness.

But blue blood haute couture statements created digital frame memories as natty, naughty nymphets and well-decked gents in crumpled linen suits struck more than a pose for photo enthusiasts. Decadent fashion swept curiosity away into the dark night as peacock feathers revealing pencil-sketch curves and outlandish outfits punctuated the style miles with alacrity and confidence. It looked as if this was the very hour of reckoning for the gals at Meydan Racecourse whose often loudly brash and ebriated movements more than suggested couture intentions.

But then fashion is as unpredictable as the stallions’ leap into millions. Showmanship and decadence edged out any competition as shimmering facades beaming fibre optic visions and neon laser displays overwhelmed the equestrian success endorsed and whistlehooted by thousands of spirited spectators and fashionistas.

The spectacular Meydan Racecourse lived up to its opening incarnations to a heady mix of noticeable, show-window folk explicitly out there to impress and be awe-inspiringly impressed. Sizzling expat babes and big bizz bosses wrestling signature neon wheels and festive dash, headed up to the haloed dining precincts of Al Muntaha at the towering Burj Al Arab and its breathtaking 360 degree frames. At Noble House – the Chinese speciality fine dining atop The Raffles Dubai, there were grandstand views of the blazing Meydan Racecourse in all its fluorescent glory and the zillion crystalline reflections that light up the modern enthusiasm of Dubai.

But the eye candy in spectral shades came alive at the stunning Dubai Musical Fountain below the colossal architectural epic the Burj Khalifa. As orchestrated waltz and Tchaikovsky’s renditions synergized with calibrated water jets, thrill and excitement create hair raising awe and open-mouthed impact on the cognoscenti at the son et lumiere extravaganza par excellence.

As we made our way out over the ‘Apron Views’ stands at the Meydan racecourse, shuffling steps up to the exits, revelry had just begun round the Dubai World Cup. Outside as temperatures dipped a bit mercifully and we strolled down to the relieving airconditioned confines of our sedan, the sky spiraling icons on dazzling Sheikh Zayed Road loomed with affirmative arrogance.

That night at the svelte French fine dining restaurant ‘Rive Gauche’ at ‘The Address Dubai Marina’ our vintage Franconian 2007 Castell Aprilles red warmed us to murmur lightly, -“Tis the way Dubai makes it, Tis the way it shall soar…… .”

3.50 Golden Jubilee Stakes

The well-travelled War Artist is capable of causing a shock. No less than nine of the 24 runners are trained outside Britain and, between them, they have experience of racing all round the world.

War Artist is unreliable but should not be 20-1 for the big race on Royal Ascot's final day. Photograph: Tony Marshall/Empics Sport/PA Photos

War Artist isn’t the sort of horse to back at short odds, given his inconsistent profile. He finished a long way behind Joy And Fun in Hong Kong last December and was again put in his place by that rival in Dubai afterwards.

But in between he had shown something like his best form when taking a Group Three at Meydan with contemptuous ease from Breeders’ Cup Sprint fourth Gayego, and he was catching Total Gallery with every stride when third in the Prix de l’Abbaye.

Having started his career in South Africa, he was switched to be trained in Newmarket by James Eustace in 2008 but has recently joined the excellent Alain de Royer-Dupré in France. Despite his rising years, he is open to improvement for his new stable and is no 20-1 chance on established form.

2.30 Chesham Stakes

Jackaroo beat Eskimo when the pair made their debuts and, although his stablemate has won an ordinary race since, he is fancied to confirm the form. Metropolitan Man failed to do much for the form of Casper’s Touch when well beaten in the Windsor Castle Stakes earlier this week but there have been positive reports about the American raider here.

3.05 Hardwicke Stakes

Harbinger’s three-year-old campaign ended on a low note but he always looked the type to do better this season and followed up a stylish victory over Manifest at Newbury (form that is working out well) with a gutsy victory over Age Of Aquarius at Chester. Harbinger has the potential to keep on improving and receives an important 5lb from leading threat Jukebox Jury.

4.25 Wokingham Handicap

The Golden Jubilee ought to provide a useful pointer as to whether rain or artificial irrigation has helped create a significant draw bias but, in the hope that low numbers aren’t disadvantaged, Hitchens looks to have as good a chance as any of these. David Barron’s runner goes particularly well fresh and has been laid out for this contest since the start of the year. A smooth traveller with a turn of foot, he will be covered up for a late challenge by Jimmy Fortune.

There are seven TV races from other tracks and punters should make some time for Hacienda (2.25) in the opening contest at Ayr. He came from way back to be fifth of 16 at Haydock last time and looks a cut above these rivals.

Horse sense

Roger Charlton is hoping the weather forecasters have got it right before Genki (4.25) runs in today’s Wokingham Handicap. Last year’s Stewards’ Cup winner emerged with plenty of credit on his latest start when fourth from a bad draw at Newmarket’s Guineas meeting and looks to hold obvious claims off the same mark. His homework suggests that he is better than ever this season.

All of his best form has come with some cut in the ground, so Genki will appreciate the showers expected to arrive at the course last night.

The Denis Coakley-trained Fanny May (2.30) will not be disgraced against the colts in the opening Chesham Stakes. The daughter of Nayef has come on considerably since her winning debut at Lingfield a fortnight ago and the form is already working out very nicely.

A name to note is Chief Of Men, an exciting juvenile from the same stable, who will be making his debut in the next couple of weeks.

Seen and heard

The train from Waterloo to Ascot during the Royal meeting is a necessary evil for many. The inevitable scrum for seats and standing room offers a marked contrast to the Royal Enclosure for those in top hats. Perhaps those from across the Channel are feeling the pinch, as among the most surprising faces deciding to brave the rattler this week were Goldikova’s jockey, Olivier Peslier, and the immaculately turned-out trainer François Doumen, right.

Most racing tipsters have had their fair share of angry correspondence during periods when winners have been hard to come by. But even by the usual angry standards of most such missives, one tabloid writer was surprised by a letter he received recently that included a laminated picture in which his head had been superimposed within the jaws of a lion.

ROYAL ASCOT GREENCOATS TO GET A MAKEOVER

Frankie Dettori has tipped Byword at Royal Ascot, a horse he is not going to be riding himself. Photograph: Tom Jenkins

This week’s Royal Ascot meeting could be the last opportunity to see one of the great traditions of the fixture. The “Greencoats”, the ceremonial guards for the Queen at the meeting, are so named because of their bright velvet uniforms, said to have been made from material left over from making curtains at nearby Windsor Castle. But this is set to be the final year in which the guards will have to suffer in the summer heat and wear their heavy and hot garb, with a new lightweight design set to be introduced for future royal fixtures.

OFCOM RAP FOR CHANNEL 4

Channel 4’s coverage of the Dubai World Cup is proving a real headache at the station. Not only did the disjointed programme go off-air before the winner had been announced but last week media watchdog Ofcom upheld complaints concerning comments made about Dubai’s sponsorship of Channel 4 Racing’s programmes. Ofcom’s rules state that “there must be no promotional reference to the sponsor, its name, trademark, image, activities, services or products or to any of its other direct or indirect interests …” References to the new hotel at Meydan racecourse were found to be particularly in breach of the rule. “The item about the hotel adopted a tone, style and use of language that was not appropriate and did not integrate editorially with the rest of the event coverage,” stated Ofcom.

FRANKIE SAYS BYWORD

Jockeys have long been known as being the worst tipsters but it is surely interesting when one selects a horse that they will not be riding. Frankie Dettori, right, who appeared at a Star Sports Royal Ascot preview last week, had no hesitation in nominating the André Fabre-trained Byword as his best bet of the week in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, ahead of his own host of mounts.

GLASS CEILING CATCHES OUT WOMEN RACEGOERS

The stewards took a very dim view of the tardiness of no less than seven jockeys who were fined after being late into the parade ring for the Coronation Cup last week on Ladies’ Day at Epsom. Meanwhile, some of the weighing room’s more mischievous figures were said to have been enjoying the view up through the glass ceiling above the jockeys’ weighing scales into the ground floor of the Queen’s Stand a little too much.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Last Sunday’s gutsy John Bridger-trained Brighton winner Inquisitress is so named not for her nature, but because she has an unusual question mark shape on her forehead with a less prominent white spot further down, completing the shape of the symbol.