‘A Huge Loss By Any Metric’: Racing World Mourns Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum

[Wandering Eyes]

The death of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum has been described as “a hammer blow of epic proportions” as those who worked closely with the owner-breeder come to terms with his unexpected passing.

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, a cousin of the Ruler of Dubai and Godolphin founder Sheikh Mohammned bin Rashid Al Maktoum, died in Dubai on Monday. He is believed to have been in his mid-70s.

Liam O'Rourke, director of studs, stallions and breeding for the Godolphin and Darley operation, has for many years overseen the broodmare band of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, which has included Zomaradah, the dam of Darley's flagship sire Dubawi. It currently features the celebrated matriarch Reem Three and a number of her daughters, including G1 Prix Jean Romanet winner Ajman Princess. 

O'Rourke said, “I am so sorry for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's family, to whom he was incredibly close. He saw his grandchildren on a daily basis, consistently mentioned them, and took a keen interest in my family, with whom he was also close. He's a huge loss by any metric.”

He continued, “He didn't suffer fools. He squared us all up from time to time, and the trainers would tell you the same thing. But he had incredible vision, great foresight, and was very frequently proved right when he came up with what we thought was a strange suggestion. So he was very much a man to support his own stable with a conviction that's rare. He had every confidence in his own abilities, and ever so often made the correct decisions as a consequence.

“He was a wonderful man to work with. He gave me a free hand with the broodmares.”

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid purchased Reem Three's granddam Donya from her breeder Vincent O'Brien and set about nurturing the ensuing generations. The fact that the stallion yard at Dalham Hall Stud currently features a son of Reem Three – Triple Time, one of her eight black-type performers – and two grandsons in Inisherin (out of Ajman Princess) and Rosallion is testament to the skill with which this has been carried out.

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's major success on the track, which stretches back to the 1998 Derby winner High-Rise and has been particularly noteworthy of late, reaches far beyond this one family. Zeus Olympios, a dual Group winner in 2025 trained by Karl Burke, is out of the young Siyouni mare Rhea, whose current juvenile Valenday, by the sheikh's multiple Group 1 winner Postponed, has looked promising in two starts for Kevin Ryan.

Arguably the most exciting of the crop about to turn three is the George Boughey-trained Bow Echo, a son of champion sire Night Of Thunder, while the owner also celebrated victory in the G3 Autumn Stakes with another Night Of Thunder colt, Hankelow.

O'Rourke continued, “We've had some tremendous luck in the last few years and he's got more to come. We were particularly excited, and are, albeit now in very bittersweet terms, looking forward to next season. He had both Zeus Olympios as an older horse, and Bow Echo as a Classic contender, so he was very excited about that. I think we're only building it, to be honest, and this is a hammer blow of epic proportions.

“He never failed to call me every Monday morning. We would have a long conversation about just about anything really. Mainly horse-related, of course, but he was a man of the world, so he had an opinion on politics and was a very interesting man to converse with on any range of topics. So I'll miss him hugely.”

Shadwell, the operation founded by another of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's cousins, the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, released a statement on Tuesday which read, “Shadwell is deeply saddened by the passing of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, a hugely successful and influential owner and breeder. He will be long remembered throughout international horse racing for his extraordinary contributions to the sport.

“Everyone connected with the Shadwell operation extends their sincere condolences to all of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's family and friends. Our thoughts are with them during this profoundly sad time.”

Kevin Ryan, who enjoyed Group 1 victories at back-to-back Royal Ascot meetings with Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's homebreds Triple Time and Inisherin, also paid tribute. He said, “He loved his family, and he was a great owner to me; not only was he an owner, he was like a friend. He was very, very good to me and we had some lovely horses for him.

“He loved his horses, he loved his racing and he was a very knowledgeable man. He was great company, told some great stories, and a very kind, generous man. He was fantastic to train for.”

Ryan added, “You'd look forward to getting the list through every year, the homebreds that were coming to you. It's been a privilege and an honour to have trained those horses for him, and he'll be sadly missed. Our thoughts are with his family.”

Within a fortnight in the summer of 1998, first Zomaradah won the Oak's d'Italia and then High-Rise followed up in the Derby. Two homebred Classic winners in two weeks, both trained by Luca Cumani, who for many years was Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's principal trainer. Cumani also saddled Postponed to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes before the colt was transferred to Roger Varian, for whom he won the Juddmonte International, Coronation Cup and Dubai Sheema Classic. 

Varian, who trained for the sheikh for nine years, added another four Group/Grade 1 winners to the tally through Ajman Princess, Defoe, Sheikha Reika and Zabeel Prince, while Kevin Ryan also trained the top-level winners Fonteyn and Emaraaty Ana. Richard Hannon Jr masterminded the career of Classic winner Rosallion, and Simon and Ed Crisford were responsible for Without A Fight in his early years, guiding him to Group 3 and Listed victories before he remained in Australia under the care of Anthony and Sam Freedman, for whom he won both the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup in 2023.

The extent to which the stallions from Reem Three's family will make an impact beyond their own Group 1 successes on the track remains to be seen but Zomaradah's legacy is secure. Her own offspring include not only Darley's first champion sire, Dubawi, but also the G2 Lancashire Oaks winner Emirates Queen. She in turn provided her breeder with his final group winner during his lifetime when her son Royal Champion added the G2 Bahrain Trophy to a record which includes the G2 York Stakes and G3 Winter Derby in 2025 alone. It is another of Zomaradah's five black-type earners, the Kingmambo mare Dubai Queen, whose branch of the family could yet bestow further Classic honours on the family via her grandson Bow Echo.

That colt's trainer George Boughey was the most recent addition to Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's roster. Speaking about the owner-breeder on Tuesday, he said, “He was a man who was still so passionate about his horses, and with an awful lot to look forward to. With his stallions at stud and some very high-class colts, mainly, in training at the moment, there was a huge amount to be excited about. We were chatting about Bow Echo and the Guineas just 36 hours ago.”

Boughey added, “I'll never forget when I got the call to train for him. I've watched those colours winning Classics and major races since I was a child, and these are bloodlines that we've all followed. To be able to be a small part of it for a couple of years was a huge privilege.”

 

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