Q&A: Fasig-Tipton's new representative Michael Adolphson on the scene in the Middle East

Michael Adolphson was announced as Fasig-Tipton's Middle Eastern representative last month. With the Saudi Cup around the corner and the Dubai World Cup Carnival well under way, the broadcaster and journalist tells us more about the scene in the Gulf.

What does your new role involve and how did it come about? My background is in racing publicity and promotion, bloodstock and an all-around love of the sport, and I was approached by Fasig-Tipton, who wished to have a more significant footprint in the region, led by someone who understands both regions well, while also familiar with the European/UK market.

It’s no secret that the company was purchased by Dubai interests more than a decade ago, but Fasig-Tipton never had much presence in this area. We are working on expanding brand exposure, recruiting owners and agents to the sales and getting a stronger sense of the developing market here. The world is becoming smaller, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t absolutely advantageous to have boots on the ground in key regions and this is surely one of them.

We are now the sponsor of best-turned-out at Meydan, raising prize-money to AED1,000 (£225/€255) to Carnival race grooms, while also offering $10,000 in prize-money on Dubai World Cup Day - including $2,000 to the groom of the Dubai World Cup’s best-turned-out horse. Luckily, graduates of our sales have been flying along since we took over, including Group 3 Dubawi Stakes winner Switzerland, 2, 000 Guineas Trial winner Tiger Nation and 1,000 Guineas winner Mimi Kakushi. Others like Street Mood and Magic Petition have been eyecatching.

How did you get your first break in the industry? There have been a few key ones along the way. I got my first at age 16, when Bill Mott let me come up to Greentree in Saratoga to hot walk for a couple of weeks in 1998, but my first real break came about when Allen Gutterman, an icon of racetrack marketing, took me under his wing during the 2009 Oak Tree and Breeders’ Cup meetings at Santa Anita as an intern. His guidance, as well as that of Nate Newby, marketing manager at the time, was priceless. He would always say, ‘The older you get, the less you realise you know', to remind me to be humble and always stay open-minded - especially in racing.

In 2013, another big step came along when Dave Zenner at Arlington Park made me head writer. Zenner is a tough editor and genuine person who raked me over the coals when it came to sharpening my skills. And in 2017, Frank Gabriel brought me to Dubai to head up media relations at Meydan and I spent three years doing that and left when he did. Frank is the hardest-working man in global horseracing and someone I aim to emulate every time I put on my tie and head to work.

Who’s your favourite ever horse? Alysheba, who was the first horse I fell in love with when I was just five years old. I screamed for him to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and cried when he lost the Breeders’ Cup Classic by a diminishing nose. 

He won the Derby after clipping heels at the top of the stretch, which is insane in dirt racing. And the next year, he did what would be unfathomable nowadays, winning five Grade 1s at ten furlongs, setting records and always just doing enough to toy with the competition, never winning by much. We never saw how brilliant he actually was. His win in the following year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic was so dramatic and fulfilling to end his career and he will always be 'America’s Horse' and the best ten-furlong dirt horse in my lifetime.

European sales have noted increased participation recently from buyers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain in particular. Are they potential growth areas for the company? The increased participation from the region, in general, is huge for the global industry. While Dubai has always had its big-name representatives, it’s great to see Saudi, Qatar and Bahrain stepping up to the plate with enthusiasm. With dirt racing in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and two of the world’s richest race meetings taking place mostly on dirt, it’s exciting to connect these buyers with strong, classy dirt and all-weather pedigrees, as well as consignors and breeders who have spent decades making the ideal athletes for these conditions. 

I also think that the fresh faces in the market wouldn’t mind a bit of quick return on investment, and there’s no better place to find precocity and speed than American sales, especially with Fasig-Tipton - Flightline, Taiba, Goodnight Olive, Caravel, Chocolate Gelato and many other superstars of 2022 were all graduates.

Are there any sales you feel that Middle-Eastern buyers should be particularly targeting? I think the two sales that make the most sense are the Midlantic May Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale and the July Selected Horses of All Ages Sale. The Midlantic sale is in Timonium, Maryland and it’s the only breeze-up sale over dirt, which is obviously key for racing in the UAE and Saudi - and really, anywhere.

Switzerland and Tadhg O'Shea landing the Golden Shaheen in Dubai last MarchCredit: Edward Whitaker

Its quality has skyrocketed over the past five years and it's the week of the Preakness Stakes, which is easily the most fun racing event on the American calendar. Three of the first four finishers in the UAE 1,000 Guineas were graduates, including Mimi Kakushi. You can find success there with the highest end, like Shaheen winner Switzerland, who sold for $500,000, and with bargain sorts like 2021 UAE Oaks champ Mnasek, who was $15,000.

The July Sale has been massive for finding quality horses in training for the Middle East, as it makes perfect sense in the calendar for shipping them to the region in time to acclimatise and, being mostly horses in training, a lot of the guesswork is over. Scotland Yard and Electability, who won a local Group 1 and Group 2 in Saudi recently, both came out of that sale last July. 

Are there any particular pedigrees or types of horses that you think work well in the likes of Dubai? On the grass, I think it’s obvious, as horses who prefer quick ground and course layouts seem to do well. I’m always looking for the speedy Danzig lines, like Oasis Dream and Dansili, prominent in pedigrees. Obviously, Dubawi has the market here on quantity, thanks in great part to the Racing in Dubai Sale. Two young sires who have done well here are Muhaarar and Mehmas. Mehmas has actually had a pair of horses do well on the dirt, which is really interesting.

American pedigrees rule the roost on dirt when Dubawi isn’t doing the job and you see a lot of the AP Indy lines do well, but the two sires whose progeny fly over the Meydan dirt are both grandsons of the great Mr Prospector - Distorted Humor and Speightstown. And you’re seeing Speightstown pass the torch to son Munnings and the Mr Prospector line doing even more damage with Quality Road and his son City Of Light.

You’ve been on the scene in Dubai for a few years now. Are there any horses you’re looking forward to seeing later in the Carnival? I look forward to seeing how the Doug O’Neill horses do, especially Ah Jeez, a good-looking Mendelssohn who seems quite genuine. As for the Godolphin goliaths, I also look forward to a possible Super Saturday appearance of the chestnut beast Yibir, as well as seeing if Real World improves off the geld when he resurfaces.

Yibir - racecourse reappearance keenly anticipatedCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Throughout the Carnival, though, the most enjoyable division for me will be the turf sprinters, where Godolphin has not dominated and the internationals have upped in class this year. After the Saudi Cup, I’m especially looking forward to the Japanese shipping over from Riyadh to train locally all March for their DWC assault.

Who’s your idea of the Dubai World Cup winner at this stage? Taiba will be difficult to beat if he makes it here. He is really just getting going in his career and because of his laid-back disposition, we still don’t know how good he is. It is a shame Epicenter was injured in the Breeders' Cup Classic, because I believe he and Taiba would have had some intense battles this season, including in the World Cup. If Taiba is beaten, I think it will be circumstantial. Those who could be tough if they show up include Proxy and Japan’s Jun Light Bolt, T O Keynes and Crown Pride. Country Grammer will run well, as he always does, but his stablemate Taiba is the better horse until proven otherwise.

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