Frankie has just won the QEII; will Godolphin ever be the Group 1 powerhouse they once were?

Question

Or will Coolmore keep them at bay?

Answer 1

they will be the best again

Answer 2

The problem with Godolphin is that they simply have too many horses at the moment.  A friend of mine works for them and said his yard (one of many) is full of handicappers.  Godolphin was set up to be an elite squad of the best horses, but currently they have about 300 horses being trained under the "Godolphin" banner.

In my opinion the Sheikh needs to cut back on his broodmares too.  I used to work for Darley, the Sheikh's breeding arm, and there are just too many bad mares that are not producing the goods.

I think the Sheikh is cutting off his nose to spite his face by not using or buying the progeny of Coolmore stallions.  The fact is, at the moment, Coolmore stand some of the best stallions in the world: Sadler's Wells, Galileo, Giant's Causeway, Montjeu, etc.

It will be interesting to see if there is a change in policy coming in the Godolphin/Darley camp.  I really think they should be focusing on quality and not quantity.

Answer 3

I would agree with everything Newmarketsalsa said and add that, looking at the stables of the individual sheikhs (Darley, Shadwell) they have had some wonderful horses over the past few years in the care of smaller barns.  Classic winners Invasor, Bernardini and West Winds have all been strong performers over the past two years outside of the Godolphin banner.  The Godolphin 'mega-stable' approach has only been a recent phenomenon, in the glory years horses running under the Godolphin banner numbered less that 20 but they were the true creme de la creme.