Hipodromos y caballos - Racetracks and horses BloodStockReview2013 | Page 10

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R A C I N G’S N E W S U P E R P O W E R

12 months before, victory on Arc weekend
meant Sheikh Joaan entered Book 1
week straight after on the high of success
and it may have been the adrenaline still
pumping through his veins that made
him stretch to 5,000,000gns – a European
record for a thoroughbred at auction – to
see off Coolmore and buy another sister to
Was. “Hopefully she’s another Treve,” De
Watrigant said after signing the docket.
Entering 2014 Sheikh Joaan’s
involvement in the bloodstock industry
has deepened further with the start of the
careers of his first two stallions, Planteur
and Style Vendome, at Bouquetot, which
is run by former Darley Flying Start
trainee Benoit Jeffroy.
A former student of France’s foremost
military academy the École Spéciale
Militaire de Saint-Cyr, Sheikh Joaan
has been good to French racing, with
the nucleus of his breeding operation
in Normandy now giving the country’s
breeders the chance to use two
Group 1-winning sons of popular,
commercial stallions in Danehill Dancer
and Anabaa.
Sheikh Joaan was also revealed as
a major shareholder in triple Group 1
winner Al Kazeem, who embarks on
his stallion career at the Royal Studs
in 2014. He will be sending the son of
Dubawi some of the cream of his nascent
broodmare band, including Changing
Skies and Mizdirection, bought for $2.7m
at Fasig-Tipton in November two days
after her repeat triumph in the Breeders’
Cup Turf Sprint.
Tapping into an outstanding
performer by one of Europe’s most
in-demand sires is no doubt the driving
force behind Sheikh Joaan’s support of Al
Kazeem, but standing behind the horse
alongside the Queen no doubt also serves
a diplomatic purpose to raise the profile
of Qatar – in a similar way that Sheikh
Mohammed used his involvement in
racing to help build Dubai into a major
business centre and tourist destination.
While Sheikh Mohammed has
Godolphin, Sheikh Joaan will have
Al Shaqab Racing, the new umbrella
name for his racing and breeding
interests. In November Al Shaqab

Sheikh Joaan talks to retained rider Frankie Dettori after Sandiva’s success in the Prix du Calvados at Deauville

revealed its blueprint to become a leading
international Flat racing operation;
Sheikh Joaan’s right-hand man Nasser
Sherida Al Kaabi said Al Shaqab would
have “goals and objectives all over the
world”, and the aim was to be “the most
successful racing organisation in the
world, with the best horses, the best
trainers and the best manpower”.
Harry Herbert, who built Highclere
Thoroughbred Racing into one of the
most successful syndicated ownership
operations in the world, has been
appointed racing manager to Al Shaqab,
which will have new racing silks for 2014.
There are big ideas for the breeding
operation too. Al Shaqab is looking to
buy an established farm in Britain or
Ireland, which could be the destination
of Olympic Glory and Toronado, who
will be seeking further Group 1 glory
in 2014. Maybe Treve, whose main aim
will be another Arc victory in the year
ahead, will be one of their first mates,

although Sheikh Joaan is prepared to dig
deep for nominations to the world’s most
expensive stallions, including Frankel and
Galileo.
Sheikh Joaan’s rapid expansion of Al
Shaqab Racing evokes memories of Sheikh
Mohammed’s spending spree in the
bloodstock boom of the 1980s to establish
himself as a leading owner-breeder.
The Qatari and Dubai royals are united
by a thirst for success at any cost and if
one thing suggests how all-encompassing
Al Shaqab Racing is set to become, and
explains how, despite Europe’s wider
economy still struggling to emerge
from recession, record prices for
bloodstock are being set, it is the following
words from Sheikh Joaan’s director of
public relations Al Kaabi.
“Sheikh Joaan has amazing ambitions
and a striking view of the future,” he said.
“He wants to be number one. He doesn’t
accept being second. For him finishing
second is the same as finishing last.” t
racingpost.com/bloodstock