Derby-winning owner's £20.5m of stock forced to be resold due to non-payment

Horses purchased by Derby-winning owner Saleh Al Homaizi during a blockbuster £20.5 million (€23.3m) spending spree last autumn have not been paid for and are set to be resold privately and at the sales in the spring.

Sales companies have been forced into the awkward position of having to contact potential purchasers for the horses only months after Al Homaizi surprisingly ignited the yearling sales in Britain, Ireland, France and the US with a string of blockbuster buys signed for by bloodstock agent Richard Knight.

Knight has never publicly announced the buyer's name and their identity was the talk of the bloodstock industry last year, but the Racing Post revealed Al Homaizi, who won the Derby in 2007 with Authorized, was behind the string of big-money purchases in October.

The buys included a €2.6m (£2.3m) sister to Group 1 Middle Park Stakes and Prix Morny winner Blackbeard at the Goffs Orby sale in September, which at the time was the highest price paid for a yearling anywhere in the world in 2022.

However, in an email sent on Friday to individuals who had bought horses at the prestigious Tattersalls Book 1 sale in October, the sales house said: “We are writing to you […] to advise that due to non-payment of sums owed we will be offering 17 two-year-olds for resale either by private sale with immediate effect or at sale/sales to be confirmed.”

The email lists 16 horses purchased at the Tattersalls Book 1 sale for 10.455 million guineas (£10.98m/€12.47m), headlined by a two million guineas Frankel colt out of Bold Lass and a 1.8 million guineas Lope De Vega filly, who is a half-sister to Battaash and The Antarctic. In addition, there is one lot purchased for Al Homaizi at the Tattersalls Book 2 sale listed as unpaid for.

Knight declined to publicly name the figure financing the purchases last year, although the Racing Post revealed that Al Homaizi was the mystery client behind the supercharged spending. The two are the only directors of SYH Bloodstock, an equestrian company established last year.

The Racing Post also revealed that Knight had been appointed as an agent by Al Homaizi allowing him to undertake various administrative tasks on behalf of the owner with the BHA.

While not naming Al Homaizi, Knight had signalled the owner’s ambitions during the sales and said: “We're just trying to build a nice team of racehorses and if the fillies are useful, or they have good pedigrees, then that's fantastic as we'll likely breed from them at the end of the day.”

Knight also said the horses would be trained in Britain after being broken in, in the process appearing to provide welcome investment into the country at a time when concerns have been increasing about a drain of talent overseas. According to the Tattersalls email, the horses it is offering for resale have been in pre-training with Derby-winning jockey Adam Kirby.

While leading auction companies Goffs and Tattersalls outline in their terms of sale that horses must be paid for in full before leaving the sales premises, purchasers are typically given 30 days or more to settle outstanding debts, with potential buyers extended fixed lines of credit in some cases.

In addition, while sales houses state in their terms that a vendor will not be paid for their horses until full payment has been received from the purchaser, it is understood by the Racing Post that the sales houses have paid the vendors.

The Racing Post has spoken with a number of vendors whose horses were signed for by Knight at the sales. The vendors confirmed they had been paid out on the prices their horses were knocked down for in the ring and had not been told of any monetary issues by the sales houses.

Richard Knight: signed for Saleh Al Homaizi's string of blockbuster buysCredit: Peter Mooney

Al Homaizi was also underbidder on many other lots, meaning his activity will have inflated the market in 2022, costing buyers while driving up the commission received by sales houses, which will go some way to mitigate the losses they are likely to incur as they resell the stock.

Among the horses he was underbidder on was a 1.5 million guineas Frankel filly purchased by MV Magnier and Peter Brant during the Tattersalls Book 1 sale, which would have earned Tattersalls £78,750 in commission, for example.

Al Homaizi, 61, is deputy chairman of the Kout Food Group, a Kuwait-based conglomerate which operates fast food franchises, including Burger King, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

He had previously raced horses in Britain alongside Imad Al Sagar, the most famous of which was Authorized, who became Frankie Dettori’s first winner of the Derby.

Al Homaizi exited the partnership in 2018, but appeared set to make a spectacular return to ownership in Britain as a sole owner. However, his own future involvement in the sport, and the futures of the more than 20 regally bred horses bought on his behalf by Knight, have now been thrown up in the air.

Tattersalls' marketing director Jimmy George said: "Obviously this is a regrettable situation. We are working with all parties in efforts to reach a satisfactory conclusion and in the meantime we have taken steps to reoffer the two-year-olds in question for sale."

In a statement Goffs chief executive Henry Beeby said the group’s “policy is that we never comment on such matters, either to confirm or deny”, while a spokeswoman for Keeneland said the sales house “do not disclose information about our sales clients”.

Arqana did not respond to requests for comment, while Knight and Al Homaizi have been approached for comment.

Read more:

Derby-winning owner links up with agent behind mystery £18.5m spending spree (£)

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