Godolphin notches historic 5,000th win
dubai — The Godolphin stable of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VicePresident and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has chalked up its 5,000th winner worldwide.
The memorable milestone was reached when Expecting To Fly, trained by Henri-Alex Pantall, ridden by Hugo Journiac, landed a one-mile maiden race at La Teste de Buch, France, on Thursday.
It came 25 years, eight months after Sheikh Mohammed created an elite stable of around 60 of his homebreds and a collection of his best horses already with established trainers in Europe.
His ambition to achieve global success with a stable, whose spiritual home and inspiration was Dubai in the UAE, has been achieved with great passion, flair and innovation.
Since its inception in 1992, Godolphin has won races in 14 countries on four continents.
Godolphin’s first winner came in a six-furlong maiden on dirt at Nad Al Sheba in Dubai, UAE, on December 24, 1992. The historymaking debut winner was Cutwater, trained by Hilal Ibrahim and ridden by jockey Dennis Batteate.
It would be 13 years before Godolphin reached 1,000 winners, that courtesy of Cherry Mix, trained by Saeed bin Suroor and ridden by Frankie Dettori, who won the G1 Gran Premio Del Jockey Club E Coppa d’Oro at San Siro, Italy, on 16 October, 2005.
But included among the first 1,000 winners in the instantly recognisable Godolphin royal blue were some of the names that carved a reputation for the stable of excellence and achievement at the highest level.