David Ord pays tribute to Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, one of the great owner-breeders who has died aged 75.
From Nashwan to Mohaather it was some ride.
Brought up by a dad who was an avid follower of the Dick Hern stable, the blue and white silks were linked with so many great horses that were important to us over the years. So was their owner.
After all it was Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum who stepped in when the Major faced eviction from West Ilsley, the base from where he’d saddled giants of the turf such as Brigadier Gerard and Troy.
Training from a wheelchair and briefly having to suspend his licence because of major heart surgery, he was told his lease at the Royal stables wouldn’t be renewed in the autumn of 1988.
Sheikh Hamdan moved swiftly. He renovated Kingwood House near Lambourn and Hern was to make it the base for the latter years of his training career.
But before the move there was Nashwan, brilliant and unprecedented winner of the 2000 Guineas, Derby, Coral-Eclipse and King George in the same glorious summer of 1989. He gave the Maktoum family their first win in the Epsom Classic and the reception he and the team around him received after winning at Newmarket will live long in the memory.
Then came Dayjur, the fastest horse I’ve ever seen who ruled Europe with disdain before overcoming a wide draw, a dirt surface and the best America had to offer in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Belmont Park - only to jump a shadow in the dying strides to lose momentum and the race.
His owner took the setback in his stride.
This was a golden era for the Shadwell team.
Harry Thomson Jones had been the early trailblazer for the owner, Al Bahatri a wonderful filly in his care, now other names joined the roster.
John Dunlop at Castle Stables, Arundel, became a wonderful ally. He gave Sheikh Hamdan a second Derby winner in 1994 with Erhaab – a few years after the brilliant fillies Shadayid and Salsabil had taken centre stage. Both won the 1000 Guineas, Salsabil an Oaks and Irish Derby too.
She was some filly.
So was Ghanaati in 2009. A descendant of the Height Of Fashion family, of who Nashwan was an early trailblazer, she won the Guineas and Coronation Stakes of 2009 for Barry Hills who also had a brilliant miler in the blue and white in the shape of Haafhd.
His son Charles took over his licence, the Hamdan patronage stayed and two brilliant sprinters followed. Muhaarar won four Group Ones, the King’s Stand, July Cup, Prix Maurice de Gheest and QIPCO British Champions Sprint in 2015.
Remarkably as he left for the stallion barn at Shadwell, a horse moved in the opposite direction who was to be even faster. Battaash was his name and he goes into 2021 as still the pre-eminent sprinter in Europe. He’s so quick he even lowered Dayjur’s course record for the five furlongs at York. That was so fast it even had Willie Carson pointing to an invisible watch on his wrist as he returned to the unsaddling enclosure.
Jim Crowley merely shook his head in disbelief when it was his turn.
Taghrooda won an Oaks and King George for John Gosden in 2014 as the talent was spread around the trainers.
Marcus Tregoning, Hern’s long-time assistant, succeeded him at Kingwood House and sent out Nayef to win the Champion Stakes in 2001, Prince Of Wales’s Stakes in 2002 and the following year’s Juddmonte International.
When he left to train at Whitsbury, Owen Burrows stepped in at Kingwood and last summer sent out his first Royal Ascot winner with Hukum and landed the Gimcrack with Minzaal.
In hindsight it was a perfect send-off that their owner enjoyed such a golden run in what proved to be his final summer, with the one searing regret being he couldn’t be there to enjoy it.
Hukum was one of six winners at the Royal meeting, Battaash, blazed his way to a fourth King George Stakes at Goodwood and second Nunthorpe, showing no signs of slowing down.
And then how fitting that there was a final champion with Tregoning too, a man who he'd been associated with the owner for over 30 years.
Mohaather’s win in the Qatar Sussex Stakes brought his trainer back into the spotlight, a moment that brought great joy to a wide number in the sport.
Sheikh Hamdan ended the year as champion owner for the ninth time and the team he built will again be represented in the weeks and months ahead by another large string of racing’s bluebloods looking to follow in the hoofprints of their illustrious predecessors.
His legacy will live on through his horses and the bloodlines. It’s too early to speculate on what the future might be for Shadwell Stud, it’s a time to celebrate the life of their founder, one of the great owner-breeders in the history of the sport.
He was a loyal man to his trainers and jockeys. Carson, Richard Hills, Paul Hanagan, Tadgh O’Shea, Martin Dwyer and in recent years Crowley and Dane O’Neill have been crucial pieces in the jigsaw.
There was a vast investment in the racing and breeding empire, huge enthusiasm for the sport. Days that will never fade and champions who have etched their place in racing folklore.
For four decades his colours have been a constant through all the major worldwide races. His death marks the end of a remarkable chapter – and the sport of horse racing is all the richer for his involvement.
