Hipodromos y caballos - Racetracks and horses BloodStockReview2013 | Page 9

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

SHEIKH JOAAN AL THANI MAY BE A RELATIVELY NEW NAME TO THE RANKS OF LEADING OWNERS
AND BREEDERS BUT, WITH BIG PLANS FOR THE FUTURE, HE IS HERE TO STAY BY MARTIN STEVENS

S

TRANGE to think that 12
months ago not many in racing
outside of experts on the Middle
East or a close circle of advisers knew
what racing’s newest superpower Sheikh
Joaan Al Thani looked like. At that point
another Qatari royal, Sheikh Fahad Al
Thani, was well known after Melbourne
Cup victory for Dunaden and the
showstopping 2,500,000gns purchase of
Hydrogen at Tattersalls. But his cousin
was still a mysterious figure.
Four Group 1 victories, including
a famous Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
stroll by his star filly Treve, a string of
big-money acquisitions of promising
horses in training and a record-smashing
yearling purchase later, the suave figure of
Sheikh Joaan, always immaculately turned
out, whether in a sharp suit for the races
or expensive casual wear for the sales, is
becoming more and more familiar.
The bloodstock industry first sat up
and took notice of the name Sheikh Joaan
when he was cited by his agent Nicolas de
Watrigant as the purchaser of the top lot
at the 2012 Arqana August Yearling
Sale, the €1.2 million son of
Sea The Stars and Prix Jean
Romanet winner Alpine Rose,
now named Edkhan and an
entry in the 2014 Derby.

Sheikh Joaan Al Thani
of Qatar (left) has
made a major impact
in the worlds of racing
and breeding, not
least with his purchase
of subsequent Arc
heroine Treve (right)

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From what was nearly a standing start
– De Watrigant had bought three
less-expensive yearlings for his new client
at the preceding year’s August sale with no
fanfare – Sheikh Joaan embarked on an
extraordinary spending spree that reached
a stunning climax at Book 1 of this year’s
Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.
A month after purchasing the
Deauville sale-topper, the 29-year-old
pounced for Julie Wood’s Superlative and
Vintage Stakes winner Olympic Glory.
He elected to keep the horse with Richard
Hannon and the son of Choisir became
the sheikh’s first horse in training in
Britain.
A few weeks later – and only two
months after Sheikh Joaan’s colours were
carried to victory by a thoroughbred for
the first time, by one of those Arqana
2011 purchases, Fatih Al Keir, at Dax
– the grey silks with red epaulettes
inspired by the Aga Khan’s were borne to
Group 1 victory when Olympic Glory
landed the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère. Three
days after that De Watrigant bought the
second dearest lot at Book 1, a Galileo
sister to Was, for 1,500,000gns.
The purchase of Haras de
Bouquetot in Normandy
followed, along
with a

string of expensive broodmares at the
end of 2012 to fill it: Changing Skies, a
three-parts sister to Nathaniel and Great
Heavens, for $4.2m; Dynaformer’s dual
Grade 1-winning daughter Harmonious
for $2.8m; Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare
Turf heroine Zagora for $2.5m; and
Twyla Tharp, the dam of that year’s
star three-year-old filly The Fugue for a
Tattersalls December Breeding-Stock
Sale-topping sum of 1,700,000gns. They
were just the tip of the iceberg.
At the start of 2013 Sheikh Joaan
strengthened his hand with the purchase
of Hannon’s other Classic hopeful
Toronado. The stablemates Olympic
Glory and Toronado won four races in
the past year including a Group 1 each,
Toronado getting the better of Dawn
Approach in a thrilling duel for the Sussex
Stakes and Olympic Glory streaking clear
to win the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.
Planteur, Sandiva and Style Vendome
also found themselves racing for Sheikh
Joaan after advertising their talent, but
the purchase that thrust the sheikh into
the limelight was that of Treve from her
owner-breeders the Head family after her
breathtakingly easy four-length defeat of
subsequent Irish Oaks winner Chicquita
in the Prix de Diane.
Wild rumours of a vertigo-inducing
sum paid for Treve circulated – and were
strongly denied by the Qatari’s advisers
– but by the end of the season even the
exaggerated price-tag that gossip had
put on her looked good value after she
displayed a rare cruisi