There may not have been any Kiwi horses in the Melbourne Cup this year, but the cup still made its way to New Zealand, albeit briefly.
Sheikh Fahad Al Thani, the 22-year-old Qatari owner of cup winner Dunaden, made a flying visit to New Zealand on Wednesday to see his horse Makfi at Westbury Stud in Karaka, south of Auckland.
He brought with him the cup itself, which many people wanted a piece of on the flight to New Zealand.
“There were a lot of racing people on the plane over to New Zealand and they all wanted a photo with it, and the sheikh was very obliging,” Westbury Stud manager Russell Warwick told NZ Newswire.
“He brought it to dinner with us on the farm as well, so for a brief moment we had both the Rugby World Cup and the Melbourne Cup in New Zealand.”
Sheikh Fahad’s first major racing purchase was Makfi, bought late last year after he had won two major races in Europe on the way to becoming the joint highest-rated three-year-old in the world last year.
He was retired to stud in England at the end of last year and Westbury won the race to the southern hemisphere rights for the horse.
Warwick said Westbury is also the base for five Australian mares the sheikh bought for $1.3 million earlier this year to be served by Makfi.
“It’s fortunate we made the association with him. He’s a lovely guy with a real passion for horses.”
The sheikh flew out again on Wednesday night to the United States, where he hopes to add to a great week when Strong Suit contests the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
NZN
