SURELY the sheikh will not rob Australian racing of Sepoy. Not yet, anyway. Surely Sheikh Mohammed has enough race-day stock with regal bloodlines to set the pulse racing. How much is enough? asks Turf Editor CRAIG YOUNG in the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD.
Sure, the ruler of Dubai has a billion-dollar investment in racing Down Under via the Darley Stud banner and as much with a global operation the like of which hasn't been seen before. But leave Sepoy to the colonials - please.
Apparently, the sheikh watched Sepoy's Blue Diamond demolition at Caulfield on Saturday via satellite. That could be bad. He would have been taken aback. Just about everyone else was.''This may be the first time in Golden Slipper history where the barriers don't count,'' said Sun-Herald and Sky Channel form analyst Tony Brassel.
Hall Of Fame trainer Lee Freedman knows what it takes to win a Golden Slipper, having won four. He is a fan of the firming Golden Slipper favourite. ''If it stays in one piece, the $3.50 [in the Slipper] is a luxury,'' he said.
Former premier Victorian jockey Craig Williams, a rider with international experience, was on board Hallowell Belle in the Blue Diamond. He got to see Sepoy's rump from a distance. His filly beat the rest home but was still four-and-a-quarter lengths behind the Sheikh's homebred.
''She did her job and got beaten by a superstar,'' was how Williams summed it up.
Lightning has struck twice down south during the past two weeks. Only a week earlier, Victorian mare Black Caviar franked her claims to be the world's best sprinter when winning the Lightning Stakes at Flemington. She was throttled back when coasting over the line. The chasers just never managed to mount a challenge. It was the same with Sepoy, which remains unbeaten in four starts.
Sheikh Mohammed has a star of his generation. Usually, these types are booked on one of his Emirates airbuses and flown to the northern hemisphere. The man has a global vision. He has a colt worth a conservative $20 million. That's what a Blue Diamond victory con do for you when you're a prospective stallion.
How much would he be worth if he manages to win another major in the top half of the world? How much is he worth if he waltzes off with the Golden Slipper, the world's richest race for two-year-olds, at Rosehill, on the first Saturday in April.
Not that money has much to do with it. It is not as if the sheikh is short of pelf. He paid $400 million-odd for the Ingham family's famed Australian racing and breeding operation, snapping up the unmatched operation in these parts lock, stock, bridle and staff. It was morphed into his Darley Stud set-up in Australia. And there is nothing else like it.
It's all about breeding thoroughbred superstars and taking them to the world via the sheikh's Godolphin stable. It is based in Dubai and goes from continent to continent, laying siege to the biggest events racing nations have to offer.
The two to elude him are the Melbourne Cup and the Kentucky Derby. Thankfully, Sepoy will not be required for either of them. We can only hope Sepoy is allowed to fulfil his three-year-old racing season in Australia.
That mean's he'll be in action at our carnivals this time next year. But don't hold your breath. Remember Darley's thoroughbred Denman? He was being touted as something special not so long ago when under the care of Sepoy's trainer Peter Snowden and his dedicated staff. Denman never got to show what he was capable of in these parts nor up north. He has already been packed off to stud.
And what about Kidnapped, the South Australian Derby winner? He is now part of the Godolphin global raiding party.
And now we've got Sepoy, with undeniable claims on being the best of his generation. How long will he stay in Australia? Only His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum knows.
STORY SOURCE: SYDNEY MORNING HERALD - JOHN FAIRFAX PUBLICATIONS
