How do you buy a Derby horse for under 50 grand – then repeat the trick over and over again?
It’s a question put to Ahmad Al Shaikh, who is discussing his approach to sourcing runners at Tattersalls during Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale.
The previous week’s Book 1 offerings caused a sensation at Park Paddocks, with demand for top-level yearlings helping turnover hit 128.5 million guineas – up 33 per cent – over the three days, while a son of Wootton Bassett made 4.3m gns, in the process breaking the record for a colt at a European auction.
Yet Al Shaikh is not interested in contributing to the stratospheric prices made in the ring. He has a limit – 80,000gns at Tattersalls – and won’t budge on that number. And why should he?
The owner’s Hoo Ya Mal, who chased home the ill-fated Desert Crown in the 2022 Derby, was purchased for just 40,000gns. Khalifa Sat, second to Serpentine in the 2020 Blue Riband, cost €40,000.
I’m not in this for business – it is my hobby and I’m in it for enjoyment
In June Al Shaikh watched his colours carried by two Derby runners, Deira Mile and Sayedaty Sadaty, as they finished fourth and fifth behind City Of Troy. The duo set the owner back 47,000gns and €30,000 respectively – they collected £125,000 combined for their Epsom efforts. Deira Mile picked up a further £40,000 when fourth in the St Leger.
“I buy the right horses at the right prices in England,” Al Shaikh says, pointing to his sales catalogue, which has 25 lots circled as possible purchases. “That is my strategy. If I enjoy what I do, why would I want to pay £1 million for a horse? I’m not in this for business – it is my hobby and I’m in it for enjoyment.
“If I like a horse here and the bidding stops at 5,000gns, I’ll take it. But if one I like goes to even 81,000gns, I’ll move on to the next one.
“These people who pay so much money – I wish them all the best, but perhaps if Amo [racing] and others aren’t there, I would be able to buy that horse for 40,000gns! If the big guns are here, the 300,000-guinea horse can become a 2 million-guinea horse.
“I study the pedigrees and know what I want. From these horses I will buy something that suits my budget – I’m not just going to see what’s cheap and buy that. If I buy one it will be from my list.”
Tattersalls is an appropriate venue to sit down with Al Shaikh as his ownership journey started at Park Paddocks.
He is a brilliant man
A Dubai native who is a businessman and manages property in the Emirate, Al Shaikh was working for the Dubai government in its media department when he was introduced to Sheikh Mohammed in the early 1980s.
Having accompanied the Maktoum family on numerous trips to Europe – “I’ve been coming here since the days of Old Vic and Nashwan” – Sheikh Mohammed bought Al Shaikh a Cape Cross yearling filly in 2007.
Named Spirit Of Dubai, she became a Listed winner and later produced Emaraaty Ana, who claimed the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes in Al Shaikh’s silks before taking the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid.
“It all started from there,” relates Al Shaikh, 62, who is married with five children between the ages of 24 and 31, his two sons having accompanied him on his latest visit to Newmarket. “Sheikh Mohammed saw that I liked horses and he gave me Spirit Of Dubai as a gift.
“I still talk to him although I don’t advise him any longer. But he is still my ruler and boss – he is a brilliant man. There’s no-one else like him in the world.”
While being gifted Spirit Of Dubai was a fortunate beginning in the thoroughbred world, Al Shaikh has certainly made his own luck subsequently.
A love of distance races means he eschews speedy, commercial types in favour of staying pedigrees, which has enabled the owner to secure any number of bargains.
Al Shaikh, who makes up his own shortlists ahead of the sales, explains: “I always go back to the third dam – I look at the third dam more than the first and second dam. This is my policy.
“I don’t like five- and six-furlong races; by the time I drink my coffee, the race is finished.
Every year I must have a Camelot
“I do everything myself – pedigree, physical – and if I like something I’ll ask Federico [Barberini, bloodstock agent] to look at the horse with me.
“When you buy for yourself, you take more care. You think about how hard you’ve worked to earn your money and so you cannot throw it away. I try to put my money in the right place.”
He continues: “I like Camelot – I have luck with him. Every year I must have a Camelot.
“I want to win the Derby – it’s always the number one race because of the history and prestige. It is my dream. How long it will take I don’t know, but I will win it one day!”
True to his word, Al Shaikh bought a son of Camelot for 18,000gns at Book 2 to add to the two colts by Ghaiyyath and St Mark’s Basilica secured at Book 1 for 60,000gns and 50,000gns.
The Ghaiyyath colt is out of Khalifa Sis, a full-sister to Khalifa Sat, who is now based at Lacken Stud in Ireland.
Ireland is also the destination for Dubai Mile (see panel), who cost the princely sum of €20,000 and provided Al Shaikh with Group 1 glory in the 2022 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. He stood his first season this year at Manton Park.
Al Shaikh’s talent for unearthing high-class staying horses has ensured a high level of interest from overseas buyers, mainly Australian-based owners hoping to bag a potential Melbourne Cup contender.
Hoo Ya Mal sold for £1.2m at the Goffs London Sale in 2022 while the likes of Youth Spirit and Hello Deira also commanded impressive sums in the ring.
Others, such as Sayedaty Sadaty, have been sold privately to enable Al Shaikh to continue his love affair with British racing.
He says: “For six years I’ve not had to put my hand in my pocket – after I sell the horses, the money covers my training costs.
“Lots of people ask me how I do it – including trainers! What can I tell them? It’s my hobby, my luck.
“I came second in a Group 3 at Newmarket with a horse [Green Storm, subsequently runner-up in the Criterium de Saint-cloud on October 27] I bought for €12,000. He is my Derby horse.
“His dam [Banimpire] was a Group 2 winner with a big pedigree. Why didn’t people want to buy him?
“After he won his maiden by nine lengths, I had three enquiries about him and decent offers. I had a think about it, but I decided to keep him. Sometimes I prefer not to sell.”
Al Shaikh, whose runners race in his own name and under the banner of Green Team Racing, continues: “When I buy, I’m never thinking about selling. I’m buying to enjoy the horses. I’ll never buy a horse just to sell on.
Communication with his trainers is a vital
“I’m in Britain for two and a half months over the summer. I enjoy this time with my family – it’s more important than money. My children often come with me to the races.”
David Simcock was Al Shaikh’s first trainer, sending out his Listed winner Desert Phantom, while the current roster includes Andrew Balding, Charlie Johnston, Simon and Ed Crisford, Owen Burrows and Kevin Philippart de Foy.
Communication with his trainers is a vital part of the ownership experience and Al Shaikh enjoys regular updates on his string.
“I talk with all my trainers two or three times a week,” he says. “Communication is very important – without it I won’t stay with a trainer.
“I don’t like it when somebody doesn’t answer the phone or call me back. I pay the bills and if they don’t want to talk to me, I’ll go somewhere else. But after you’ve moved the horses, they always call you to say sorry!”
In his other guise, Al Shaikh is also a small-scale breeder, with six broodmares stabled at Dukes Stud in Newmarket. The band includes Princess Salamah, dam of Al Shabab Storm, winner of a Group 3 at Baden-Baden in August.
“When you win a race with a homebred you feel more enjoyment,” Al Shaikh explains. “You feel something different than when you buy at the sales.
“It’s a good feeling – you took time deciding which sire will suit the mare. You breed them, wait for them, see them improve. He was the first to win from the mare, so it was a very proud moment.
“But my best day in racing came when Hoo Ya Mal was second in the Derby – it was like we’d won! Andrew [Balding] didn’t want to run him but I did. He also had the favourite Kameko in the race and said Hoo Ya Mal didn’t need to run.
“I pushed him to run my horse – I came second and Kameko finished fourth! I like Andrew, he is one of my best trainers and I always go with what he says, except on that occasion.”
As the old saying goes, racehorses don’t know how much they cost. Ahmad Al Shaikh’s strategy is proof that backing your own judgement can take you a long way in the Sport of Kings.
Dubai Mile
Ahmad Al Shaikh is excited by Dubai Mile’s potential as a stallion. The son of Roaring Lion, who stood his first season this year at Manton Park, will relocate across the Irish Sea for 2025.
In five runs as a two-year-old, Dubai Mile won three times, showing his talent and tenacity with a head victory over Arrest in the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. At three he was beaten just over five lengths in the 2,000 Guineas behind Chaldean, finishing ahead of the likes of Charyn and Auguste Rodin.
“Dubai Mile won on good to firm, heavy and on the all-weather,” Al Sheikh says. “As a two-year-old he won a Group 1 – you cannot easily find a horse like him. I hope people recognise that.
“He’s now standing in Ireland and that’s where the better mares are. Irish people like a fighter – and Dubai Mile was a real fighter. I think they will support him. He’s a good looking, strong horse, and I’m confident he’ll be a success.
“I feel proud to have made a stallion. That’s one of the most important things in this sport. I cannot wait for his first runners in two years’ time and I’m very happy to be supporting him and sending mares to him.”
