Tony McFadden highlights Sheikh Hamdan's six highest-rated horses based on peak Timeform annual ratings.
Dayjur (137)
It is testament to Dayjur's ability that, 30 years later, he remains the benchmark against which modern sprinters are compared. No sprinter in those 30 years since has achieved a higher Timeform rating than the figure of 137 Dayjur reached during an outstanding campaign in 1990.
Dayjur was kept busy by trainer Dick Hern and raced on nine occasions in 1990, but he thrived on his racing and was successful in Group 1 company on his last three starts on turf. He then showed his versatility when going down narrowly against the pick of the Americans on dirt in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, looking set to come out on top of a pulsating battle with Safely Kept before jumping a shadow close home.
Dayjur swept his rivals aside in the Temple Stakes, King's Stand Stakes, Nunthorpe Stakes, Sprint Cup and Prix de l'Abbaye, proving in a league of his own. He was at his most imperious in the Nunthorpe Stakes, in which he recorded his rating of 137 and clocked a winning time that remained a record for nearly three decades.
Battaash (136)
Dayjur's long-standing record over York's five furlongs was finally broken by Battaash, who put his Knavesmire hoodoo behind him in the 2019 Nunthorpe. Battaash had already established himself as one of the most talented sprinters of the modern era – he was especially impressive in the 2017 Prix de l'Abbaye – but he went into the 2019 Nunthorpe with a bit to prove having twice flopped in the race, including when sent off an odds-on favourite for the previous edition.
However, Battaash was at his blistering best and produced a performance that is likely to be the defining one of an exceptional career, running to a level worth a lofty Timeform rating of 136. The gelded Battaash won all three starts in 2020, registering a first win at Royal Ascot in the King's Stand Stakes, a fourth King George Stakes and a second Nunthorpe, and he will be back for more at the age of seven in 2021. He has been trained throughout his remarkable career by Charlie Hills.
Nashwan (135)
No colt has completed the British Triple Crown since Nijinsky in 1970, but Nashwan is part of a select club to have won the first two legs, the 2000 Guineas and Derby. It would be another 20 years before another horse completed that double, but, like Nashwan, Sea The Stars was not aimed at the St Leger.
Nashwan took on older rivals in the Coral-Eclipse on his first start after the Derby and earned a career-best Timeform rating of 135, winning by five lengths from a field that included Indian Skimmer and Warning.
He narrowly followed up in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes but then suffered the only defeat of his career in the Prix Niel on what had been viewed as a stepping stone to the Arc but instead proved to be his final start.
Nashwan was a son of Height of Fashion, who also produced top-class performers Unfuwain and Nayef.
Invasor (133)
Hamdan Al Maktoum's silks were twice carried to victory in the Dubai World Cup, firstly with Almutawakel in 1999 for Saeed bin Suroor and then Invasor for US-based trainer Kiaran McLaughlin in 2007.
Invasor, who was born in Argentina and won the Triple Crown in Uruguay, was only fourth in the 2006 UAE Derby on his first start after being purchased by Sheikh Hamdan, but he then dominated in the US, notably winning the Whitney Handicap and Breeders' Cup Classic later in the same year.
He returned to Nad Al Sheba – the home of the Dubai World Cup before Meydan was built – and was sent off the narrow 5/4 favourite for the 2007 Dubai World Cup, in what looked a match with 11/8 shot Discreet Cat, the horse who had won the previous season's UAE Derby.
Discreet Cat ran no sort of race, but he would have struggled against Invasor in any case, such was the time Invasor clocked and level of form he displayed. That would be the final start of Invasor’s career and he bowed out having won 11 of his 12 outings.
Mubtaker (132)
Mubtaker had training troubles in the early part of his career and made it to the course only once before the autumn of his three-year-old campaign. However, he went on to enjoy a lengthy and successful career for Marcus Tregoning, during which he impressed with his consistency and excellent attitude, and was still in training at the age of nine when he sadly suffered a fatal injury on the gallops.
He was also a top-class performer in his pomp and memorably went close to winning the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at the age of six, getting to within three-quarters of a length of Dalakhani. Mubtaker failed to win at the highest level, but he achieved a higher Timeform rating than many who do so, and he was prolific in Group 2 and Group 3 company – he notably won three successive editions of the Geoffrey Freer.
Muhaarar (132)
Remarkably, three of the very best British-based sprinters of the last 30 years were all owned by Sheikh Hamdan. The Charlie Hills-trained Muhaarar, with a peak Timeform annual rating of 132, may not have quite reached the lofty heights of Dayjur or Battaash, but there's no doubt that he was a top-class racehorse, and he proved completely dominant over sprint distances in the summer of 2015.
Muharaar made little impact in the French 2000 Guineas but he produced an impressive display to win the inaugural running of the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and he followed up in Group 1 company in the July Cup and Prix Maurice de Gheest.
Muhaarar saved the best until last, however, and earned his peak rating with an authoritative two-length success in the Champions Sprint Stakes. Such dominance is rarely seen in the sprint division and Muharaar is one of only two horses since Dayjur to win at last three Group 1 sprints in succession (Marchand d'Or is the other).
Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum (1945 - 2021)
Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum died at the age of 75 on Wednesday.
Here are our tributes...
