Prominent owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum dies

Trainer Karl Burke paid tribute to Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum following the leading owner and breeder’s death on Monday.

A prominent figure in British racing since the early 1990s, Sheikh Mohammed Obaid’s yellow silks with black spots were carried to victory in the 1998 Derby by the Luca Cumani-trained High-Rise and have been sported by several other top-class performers since.

His other big-race victors include Postponed, winner of the King George and Juddmonte International, and more recently the likes of Rosallion, Inisherin and Royal Champion.

Burke saddled the latter to win the Bahrain International Trophy just last month and trains a number of exciting horses for the owner including the unbeaten Joel Stakes winner Zeus Olympios, Cambridgeshire hero Boiling Point and Autumn Stakes victor Hankelow.

“It’s a shock. I was only talking to him earlier today and we discussed all the horses he was looking forward to for next season,” the trainer told the Press Association.

“I was due to meet him next week and it’s such sad news because he loved his horses and I know he was really looking forward to next year.

“I owe him a lot. He gave me a lot of responsibility to train all those good horses for him and he was a very good man.”

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid also owned and bred the 2023 Melbourne Cup winner Without A Fight, while his undefeated Royal Lodge Stakes winner Bow Echo, trained by George Boughey, is one of the leading fancies for next year’s 2000 Guineas.

A cousin of Sheikh Mohammed and a member of the ruling family of Dubai, Sheikh Obaid will leave in indelible mark on the bloodstock world through his mare Zomaradah, a Classic winner in her own right and the dam of Dubawi, who came from the only crop of Dubai Millennium and he would go on to become the champion sire of Britain and Ireland.