From sprinters to stayers, turf to dirt, America to Australia, homebreds to big-money buys, Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum’s blue and white silks have been carried with distinction by a litany of top-class horses. Following news of the sheikh’s death, Nicholas Godfrey picks his top ten of the great owner's horses down the years.
1. Nashwan
Pedigree: foaled 1986, Blushing Groom - Height Of Fashion
Trainer: Dick Hern (GB)
Jockey: Willie Carson
G1 wins (4): 2000 Guineas (1989), Derby (1989), Eclipse Stakes (1989), King George (1989)
Nashwan was a superb racehorse, maybe second only to Dancing Brave in Europe in the last 25 years of the 20th Century. A powerfully built homebred, he won six of his seven career starts and ripped through the Classic generation of 1989 with an unprecedented four-timer, completing the Guineas/Derby double with a brilliant turn of foot on both occasions before slamming a top-class by five lengths in the Eclipse Stakes. If those victories advertised a superlative talent, then the King George was more about courage as he got the better of Cacoethes in a fearsome battle.
He ran only once more, forfeiting his unbeaten record on soft ground in the Prix Niel; he was retired to stud soon after, his progeny headed by dual King George winner Swain and Arc hero Bago.
2. Dayjur
Pedigree: Foaled 1987, Danzig - Gold Beauty
Trainer: Dick Hern (GB)
Jockey: Willie Carson
G1 wins (3): Nunthorpe Stakes (1990), Ladbrokes Sprint Cup (Haydock, 1990), Prix de l’Abbaye (1990)
Britain’s greatest sprinter of the last half-century, freakishly gifted Dayjur was all about speed, pure and simple. Bought for $1.65m at Keeneland, he blitzed his way through the European sprint division as a 3-year-old in 1990 with a series of blistering efforts (6-length win in King’s Stand at Royal Ascot, track record in Nunthorpe, eased down at 1/10 in the Prix de l’Abbaye) before earning a lasting place in racing folklore when he was beaten in notorious circumstance after jumped the shadow of the Belmont Park grandstand on dirt in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. An unforgettable legacy.
3. Invasor
Pedigree: Foaled 2002, Candy Stripes - Quendom
Trainer: Kiaran McLaughlin (USA)
Jockey: Fernando Jara
G1 wins (5): Pimlico Special (2006), Suburban Handicap (2006), Whitney Handicap (2006), Donn Handicap (2007), Dubai World Cup (2007) – plus Uruguayan Triple Crown (2005)
Living proof of the adage that a good horse can come from almost anywhere, Argentine-bred Invasor was bought out of Uruguay, where he won the three legs of the triple crown by a cumulative 18 lengths and was later to be treated as a national hero after export. A stalking type with a powerful finish, he went on to become U.S. Horse of the Year in 2006, when his season climaxed by running down Preakness winner Bernardini in the Breeders’ Cup Classic to become official world champion according to the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings.
Invasor wasn’t done there: he outduelled Premium Tap to win the Dubai World Cup in 1m59.50, the second fastest time in the race’s history after Dubai Millennium. Subsequently retired through injury, he won 11 of his 12 career starts and was inducted into the U.S. Hall of Fame in 2013.
4. Sakhee
Pedigree: Foaled 1997, Bahri - Thawakib
Trainer: John Dunlop/Saeed Bin Suroor (GB)
Jockey: Richard Hills/Frankie Dettori
G1 wins (2) Juddmonte International (2001), Arc de Triomphe (2001)
Perhaps a controversial selection, given that Sakhee’s greatest achievements came in the Godolphin blue as a 4-year-old after surgery for a bone chip in a knee. However, the son of star miler Bahri was a Shadwell homebred who became one of those confusing beasts, a horse owned by Sheikh Hamdan as part of Godolphin (though the record books said simply ‘Godolphin’ after earlier mistakes on that score, notably with Lammtarra).
Sakhee most definitely was Godolphin in the end, but not until after he’d won a couple of Derby trials and been beaten only a length by Sinndar at Epsom in Sheikh Hamdan’s blue and white for original trainer John Dunlop. None of this, mind you, could have prepared us for what was to come at 4 after the transfer: a smashing 7-length win in the Juddmonte International, a 6-length verdict in the Arc and a narrow defeat to the ultra-tough Tiznow in an epic battle on dirt for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Belmont Park. Still don’t think he was a proper Sheikh Hamdan horse? Okay, guess which stud he retired to. You got it.
5. Salsabil
Pedigree: Foaled 1987, Sadler’s Wells - Flame Of Tara
Trainer: John Dunlop (GB)
Jockey: Willie Carson
G1 wins (5): Prix Marcel Boussac (1989), 1000 Guineas (1990), Oaks (1990), Irish Derby (1990), Prix Vermeille (1990)
One of the earliest champions sired by the legendary Sadler’s Wells, Salsabil was a brilliant middle-distance filly who left an indelible mark on the 1990 season with a trio of memorable Classic victories. She completed the Guineas/Oaks double in England, outbattling Heart Of Joy at Newmarket before a dominant 5-length soft-ground victory at Epsom, but her finest hour came at the Curragh as she became the first female to win the Irish Derby since 1900, beating a field including the Epsom 1-2 Quest For Fame and Blue Stag and subsequent King George winner Belmez.
She was retired after a below-par Arc effort from an unfavourable draw, ending a glorious career with a seven-from-nine career record. Shadwell’s Salsabil Stud is named in her honour; she also has a listed race named for her at Naas.
6. Battaash
Pedigree: Foaled 2014, Dark Angel - Anna Law
Trainer: Charlie Hills (GB)
Jockey: Jim Crowley
G1 wins (4): Prix de l’Abbaye (2017), Nunthorpe Stakes (2019, 2020), King’s Stand Stakes (2020)
At #32 overall on the world list, Battaash rates the highest of Sheikh Hamdan’s horses on the TRC Global Rankings (dating back to 2011). Add career longevity to his electric speed and the now 7-year-old more than deserves high estate here even allowing for some mercurial efforts. He doesn’t get an inch over five furlongs and he’s had his problems – some admittedly of his own making, fond of getting het up in the prelims and prone to the odd stinker.
Gelded at two (plus two wind surgeries in later life), he remains next to unbeatable on his ‘going’ days. Witness, for example, career highlights making virtually in the 2107 Abbaye, or the 2019 Nunthorpe, where he overpowered his rivals two out to win by 2¾ lengths to break Dayjur’s record for the race, or his amazing feats at Glorious Goodwood, where he’s won the G2 King George Stakes four years on the trot.
According to whichever scale is favoured, Battaash was still the world’s highest-rated sprinter in 2020, when he was unbeaten in three. Roll on 2021.
7. Nayef
Pedigree: Foaled 1998, Gulch - Height Of Fashion
Trainer: Marcus Tregoning (GB)
Jockey: Richard Hills
G1 wins (4): Champion Stakes (2001), Dubai Sheema Classic (2002), Juddmonte International (2002), Prince of Wales’s Stakes (2003)
Not for nothing did trainer Marcus Tregoning describe Nayef as “a super racehorse, everybody’s dream of a racehorse” – yet this splendid-looking colt’s suffered for a period for the simple reason that he wasn’t his half-brother, Nashwan, lacking that supreme performer’s turn of foot. Hyped beyond all reason on the back of a 6-length win at Ascot on his final 2-year-old start, Nayef was a virtual non-factor in the Classics before redeeming himself stepped up to middle-distances.
This included the second half of his 3-year-old campaign, when he completed a four-timer with his first G1 success in the Champion Stakes just 20 days after a gruelling effort in the mud to win the Cumberland Lodge. Further G1 victories were to follow as he continued almost exclusively at the top level for two more seasons, among them a career-best as a 5-year-old in a clear-cut success over a field full of fellow G1 winners at Royal Ascot in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.
8. Taghrooda
Pedigree: Foaled 2011, Sea The Stars - Ezima
Trainer: John Gosden (GB)
Jockey: Paul Hanagan
G1 wins (2): Oaks (2014), King George (2014)
A fine filly, albeit during a brief career lasting only six races, the first four of which she won, including a decisive victory in the Oaks (leading a Hamdan 1-2 from Tarfasha) before a dazzling 3-length success at Ascot to become the seventh of her sex to win the King George. This homebred daughter of Sea The Stars looked a truly brilliant filly that day at Ascot as she stayed on strongly to score easily from Telescope.
Great things were expected but she wasn’t right when outstayed at odds of 1/5 in the Yorkshire Oaks and was to be seen just once more, when beaten favourite in the Arc a shade over three lengths behind Treve – no disgrace, but this was a better effort than the bare result suggests as she raced without cover throughout from a wide draw. Taghrooda was retired to the paddocks with a career record of four out of six – and a nagging feeing that she could have achieved more.
9. Muhaarar
Pedigree: Foaled 2012, Oasis Dream - Tahrir
Trainer: Charlie Hills (GB)
Jockey: Paul Hanagan
G1 wins (4): Commonwealth Cup (2015), July Cup (2015), Prix Maurice de Gheest (2105), British Champions Sprint (2015)
An outstanding talent, Muhaarar is generally remembered as a sprinter but in truth he wasn’t a pure speedball, being better suited by a stiff 6f and slightly further, when he overwhelmed top-class rivals on a regular basis with a devastating turn of foot in the closing stages. Stone last in the French Guineas, the son of top sprinter Oasis Dream was reborn when he cut back in distance for a spectacular four-race G1 spree in 2015, starting with a highly impressive performance in the first running of the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, where he thrashed subsequent G1 winner Limato.
Three more G1 wins followed, climaxing with a stunning course-and-distance display at Ascot in a 20-runner edition of the British Champions Sprint. “He has been a great privilege to train,” said Charlie Hills, and it was easy to see why.
10. Jeune
Pedigree: Foaled 1989, Kalaglow - Youthful
Trainer: David Hayes (Australia)
Jockey: Wayne Harris
G1 wins (5): Underwood Stakes (1994), Melbourne Cup (1994), Queen Elizabeth Stakes (1995), CF Orr Stakes (1995) Craiglee Stakes (1995)
A muscular chestnut originally trained in Newmarket by Geoff Wragg, Jeune was a useful middle-distance performer in Britain, carrying the colours of Sir Robin McAlpine to victory at Royal Ascot in the Hardwicke Stakes. However, he really blossomed after joining Sheikh Hamdan’s team, making the now familiar move to Australia – where European stamina is such a precious commodity – and duly became Horse of the Year in 1994-95, when, racing in pacifiers, he won top-level events at a range of trips from 7f up to the two miles of his Melbourne Cup success.
Jeune was the sheikh’s second winner of the famous Flemington showpiece after At Talaq, another ex-European, in 1986, when he was trained by David Hayes’s legendary father, Colin.
Bubbling under: Al Bahathri, Alhaarth, Almutawakel, Ashal, At Talaq, Bahri, Elmaamul, Erhaab, Frosted, Ghanaati, Haafhd, Hamas, Intikhab, Jazil, Lahib, Lahudood, Mohaather, Soft Falling Rain, Tamarkuz, Tamayuz, Unfuwain et al …