Ready for some Kentucky Derby onlines betting? LFG! Godolphin Racing, owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of United Arab Emirates, has won many of the world’s most famous races, including the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Epsom Derby, Melbourne Cup, Prix de l’arc de Triomphe, and the Dubai World Cup, which is a $12 million race he invented.
Despite his company’s success, the 71-year-old sheikh and his brothers have not won the Kentucky Derby. Going 0-11 since their first attempt to win it in 1999. Will 2021 be different?
This year, they will like their odds to win the Run of Roses with Essential Quality. One of the top contenders in the Derby. The gray colt has already earned over $2.2 million and is the top points qualifier for the 147th Derby. He’s expected to be the early favorite in a likely full field of 20 horses. Ready?
“It would be the biggest accomplishment,” said Brad Cox, who would become the first Louisville-born trainer to win the race. “It’s been a real honor to train for such a global empire and to have a horse like this.”
Even though Godolphin is based in Dubai, the company operates in Australia, Britain, France, Ireland, and Japan. He also has six farms in Kentucky.
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“They’re a classy organization. That obviously is dealing with some high-end bloodstock, some of the best bloodlines in the world,” Cox said.
Kiaran McLaughlin trained three of Godolphin’s Derby runners, including Frosted, Godolphin’s highest-placing finisher who was fourth behind eventual Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in 2015.
“They’ve built up a fabulous breeding operation. They have the best sires going to the best mares. A lot of thought is put into each mating,” McLaughlin said by phone from New York. “The approach to do it is about the horse. If the horse got real good in Dubai or somewhere else, they would try to bring them to win the Derby.”
Winning the Derby this year will be especially meaningful to the sheikh, who lost his brother, an influential horse owner and breeder in his own right, in March. He is not expected to attend the Derby this year.