SEAMIE Heffernan is enjoying a fine winter season in Bahrain, having ridden six winners from 50 rides before yesterday’s fixture. He enjoyed a significant success there last week, when riding the Jack Channon-trained Majestic to victory in a valuable one mile handicap.

Speaking to The Irish Field he said: “I got the call from [trainer] Allan Smith last summer. He said that he and [owner] Sheikh Isa wanted to retain me for the season. I had never been here before and decided I would grab the opportunity. The climate is great and so is the track. I’ve done winters in India, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Saudi Arabia before, but this is the best winter job I have ever had. I would highly recommend it.

“We race every Friday and the odd Thursday. All the racing is on turf - there are two tracks - and there is great prize money for horses rated 80 to 100. Gavin Cromwell had a winner here with Snellen a couple of weeks ago. If you have a fair horse who likes good ground, there is money to be won here. I’ve had six winners and nine second placings - I think I am the leading prize money earner so far. It was a privilege to ride a winner for Jack Channon.”

There are 30 racedays in total and the season ends on April 18th. Heffernan hopes to have a ride in both the local Derby and Oaks in the coming weeks. The Al Sakhir Cup (5f) and Vision 2050 Cup (8f) on February 21st are major pots. There is another valuable ‘international’ handicap over 10 furlongs on March 6th.

Asked how he keeps busy on non-racing days, Heffernan said: “My partner and her daughter have been out three times. I don’t play golf, but I love walking and I spend some time with [jockeys] Andrew Breslin, P.J. McDonald and Scott McCullagh. I also put in a lot of time reading and studying the form and I am never bored.”

He says he is available to ride at the big money meetings in Saudi Arabia and Dubai this spring. “Saudi is a three-hour drive away and you can take a 50-minute flight to Dubai.”

Heffernan is certainly not missing the cold weather at home and was bemused to hear that the roof on one of his sheds at home collapsed under the weight of snow last week.