Sheikh Al Maktoum’s passion for horse racing
Being a descendent from one of the most noticeable tribes in Arabia, it was natural that even if Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was born into the ruling family, the Bedouin tradition and culture was thoroughly drilled into his nature and character.
The luxuries could not become his escape from the severe surviving conditions that the desert offered.
He was trained in a way, that he knew well what a layman, nomad would have known.
For instance, he knew the way to analyse the desert sands along with being able to identify the footprints of a single camel from those of an entire herd.
His prolific love and interest for horses had been within him ever since he was a very young school going kid, who used to share his breakfast with his horse in the morning on his way to school.
He rode his very first horse at the age of 12, and developed the profound art of training, and taming those horses that were labelled as ‘un-trainable’ by the rest.
This skill, for the rest of his life has stayed with him as his left hand trick.
Even when the Ruler left for Cambridge to pursue higher education, he yet again crossed roads with a family that was primarily interested in horses and the future Ruler lived with them during his stay in England.
He still savours the time when he used to discuss horse racing with that family.
The Sheikh got the chance to boost the most successful British sire, actually having his roots from an Arabian horse, Godolphin Arabian.
No wonder the most successful owner in horse racing is Godolphin Racing itself.
It took the Ruler 40 years to come up with the idea of opening up a racing platform that would later be considered as an icon of the horse racing industry throughout the world.
The actual racing inspiration and the stepping stones for the Ruler were when his filly, Hatta, won a race in England. He by now was a regular attendee at the international racing events that enticed him into coming up with something similar in his
homeland too.
This was the time when Sheikh Maktoum took the far reaching decision of bringing back his horses to Dubai, and let them flourish in the warm weather. His favourite horse stays to be, Dubai Millennium, who has given his owner irreplaceable and invaluable
wins.
He ‘brought up’ Godolphin by introducing international dimensions for it and turning it into a world class breeder. He also came up with the idea of Cartier Awards and a racecourse as unique as the Meydan which right now has no parallel in any other
country throughout the world.
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