DanielRoth.net: May 2007

The Sheik Who Would Be
King of Horse Racing

He's spent more than $1 billion on horses, and built them their own 747. He's won the biggest races worldwide. Now the ruler of Dubai is taking his game to the U.S.

Condé Nast Portfolio
May 2007 issue

By Daniel Roth

Betting is not allowed at the Nad al-Sheba racetrack in Dubai. Gambling is illegal in the United Arab Emirates, so the thousands of race fans there spend the intervals between post times kicking soccer balls or buying trinkets from vendors who lay out their wares on the Bermuda grass. It’s a cool night in January—it gets too hot here to race during the day—and floodlights illuminate the five-story, glass-and-steel space-station-style grandstands. In the distance are the skyscrapers Dubai is famous for; almost all have cranes on top, signaling that they’re only going to get higher.

Just after 9:30 p.m., the crowd suddenly starts moving, packing in tightly near the parade ring, where the winning horses and jockeys receive their prizes. Kufis brush against baseball caps as locals strain to get a view of Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who has stopped by to take in the action.

Sheik Mohammed is the ruler of Dubai, the prime minister of the seven-state United Arab Emirates, and the most powerful man in the world of horse racing. At 57, he moves with an athlete’s quickness. At one point, while chatting with a jockey, he lifts the hem of his blue dishdasha, revealing a heavily muscled calf. On his head is a crisp white headdress. He turns to a slim British man standing next to him: “Who won?”

Simon Crisford manages Godolphin, Sheik Mohammed’s top racing operation. A onetime Racing Post writer, Crisford now spends half the year in Dubai and half in his native Britain.

“A German horse, sir,” says Crisford.

“That’s good!” says Sheik Mohammed, smiling broadly. “Very good.” The German owners not only beat Sheik Mohammed’s entry, which placed second, but walked away with $72,000—much, if not all, of it the ruler’s money. At most tracks, the house skims off a percentage of gamblers’ bets to cover costs and finance the winner’s purse. Here, the $31 million in prize money that Nad al-Sheba will pay out during its main 11-week season comes mostly from “the Boss,” as Sheik Mohammed’s employees refer to him out of earshot. So while the sheik is fiercely competitive, he’s fine with losing if it means the Germans will be back for more races, perhaps bringing friends and adding to Dubai’s ballooning tourist trade.

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