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It all began at lunch with one of racing’s great mystery men in York, in the north of England, seven years ago.
A young Sam Freedman, carrying one of Australian racing’s most famous names, gained a chance meeting with an Emerati sheikh, Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum.
Freedman had spent two years working for leading European trainer Roger Varian as his pupil assistant. Varian, who trained one of the sheikh’s best horses, Postponed, made the introduction. The rest, as they say, is history.
The sheikh was not among the 80,000-odd people trackside at Flemington to accept the famous three-handled trophy. For many big owners, a day at the track can be a nuisance: drunk fans, pesky journalists, and big crowds.
Instead, Sheikh Mohammed Obaid opted for comfort of his Dubai loungeroom, where we were told he was overcome with emotion after the horse he bred became just the 12th to complete the Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double. The Victoria Racing Club accepted the trophy on his behalf.
In a short mobile phone call he relayed his thanks to Freedman, and instead allowed the fresh-faced young trainer and jockey Mark Zahra to share the limelight.
Clearly, the passionate owner-breeder had years ago identified the young man as a key party in a puzzle to help him achieve success in Australia.
Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum (second from left) in 2019 after his horse Cape Byron won at Royal Ascot.Credit: Getty Images
“He was sitting at lunch at York and Roger … kindly took me up there… I met him – very briefly – just for five minutes or so. And thankfully there was somewhat of a lasting impression.”
Freedman, who was clearly ambitious to follow in the footsteps of his father Anthony and uncle Lee, kept in touch with the sheikh’s bloodstock agent, Liam O’Rourke. They exchanged occasional texts over the years. Inquiries about horses. That kind of thing.
“Liam got back in touch with me, probably about 18 months ago, when Without A Fight was on a bit of a streak over in Europe and flagged that the horse was going to come out for the Melbourne Cup and was probably thinking about leaving him there and it just sort of bubbled away,” Freedman said.
The low-profile sheikh, who tends to make headlines only when sacking trainers and jockeys without notice, is part of the ruling United Arab Emirates family in Dubai. His yellow-with-black-spot silks have become a fixture on British and Irish racetracks over the past 20 years.
Mark Zahra gets a kiss from wife Elyse after winning the Melbourne Cup as he lifts the trophy with trainer Sam Freedman.Credit: Eddie Jim
Eight years ago he famously severed ties with UK-based Italian trainer Luca Cumani, who’d won the 1998 Epsom Derby with High-Rise. At the time Cumani underlined that no reason had been given as to why he’d opted to remove all his horses, transferring them to Varian.
“We’re very shocked,” Cumani said at the time. “Owners have that prerogative, they buy the horses and they can choose who trains them.”
In September this year Sheikh Mohammed Obaid also split with little warning with Newmarket duo Simon and Ed Crisford.
After his horse, Triple Time, won at Royal Ascot in June he accepted the trophy, dressed in top-hat and a grey morning suit. He gave a rare interview with host broadcaster ITV, saying he rarely intervenes in the planning and trusted his trainers.
Mohammed Obaid is the first cousin of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the driving force behind global powerhouse Godolphin stable. It took the stable 20 years and as many horses to finally win the Cup in 2019, but Mohammed Obaid has done it with his first entrant.
The family’s patronage of the turf in Europe and around the world has long been beyond dispute. Over three decades his outlay has been so vast that it defies calculation. Racing today would be unrecognisable had the family not chosen to embrace it.
“I’ve spoken to him and he’s pretty happy,” Freedman said. “He was pretty rapt after the Caulfield Cup but he was pretty emotional today.
“I think it has really meant a lot to him.”
Freedman said the pair had spoken weekly this spring, and it was the sheikh who wanted to target the Caulfield Cup, suggesting he run in the Underwood Stakes in September and miss the Turnbull Stakes.
“It was a little obscure for a traditional Caulfield Cup preparation but he was spot on,” Freedman said. “He got it right, so we stay in constant contact.
“He’s really all over the program here and he does his due diligence. He’s got a lot of experiences and a lot of horses so he’s definitely worth bouncing ideas off.”
Freedman said his wealthy owner had always looked at Australia from afar, and his interest in investing more could be “a really big thing for Australia”.
“He’s always looking to identify some horses that will suit down here and he’s getting a really strong grip on what sort of horses might be best to bring out. Hopefully, there will be some more to come.”
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