'Sheikh Mohammed said I could choose a horse as a gift and that's how it started' - top owner's incredible journey from Italia 90 to Epsom
Peter Scargill talks to Ahmad Al Shaikh, an owner with a remarkable eye for a bargain
Not long after we sit down at the sales to discuss his attitude to buying and selling horses, Ahmad Al Shaikh is approached by a Tattersalls manager who wishes him good luck with a homebred horse he is putting through the ring later that day.
“This guy, he calls me now and again to say, ‘Ahmad, you are so lucky with the horses you buy here', but I tell him it is not luck, you have to study,” Al Shaikh says. “It's like when you are at school and you study, two days before the exam you cannot sleep – I am like this when I come to the sale.”
Lucky or studious, Al Shaikh has developed a reputation for being able to source horses for relatively modest sums who are then able to achieve on the racecourse before being sold on for amounts far in excess of what they were purchased for.
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
Published on inInterviews
Last updated
- 'I had to fly back from Saudi on the day for the awards before flying back the following day but it really was a great evening'
- 'The lads often give out to me for saying what I say - but if I didn't say what I thought I wouldn't be being true to myself'
- 'All anyone wants is a pat on the back and these awards show you mean something to the yard and the people there. It's brilliant'
- 'The doctor said take it steady - what's he on about? I'll be straight back knocking them in'
- 'I'm not retiring just yet. It'll come to me, I'm sure, but I hate idleness - I haven't had an idle moment in 60 years'
- 'I had to fly back from Saudi on the day for the awards before flying back the following day but it really was a great evening'
- 'The lads often give out to me for saying what I say - but if I didn't say what I thought I wouldn't be being true to myself'
- 'All anyone wants is a pat on the back and these awards show you mean something to the yard and the people there. It's brilliant'
- 'The doctor said take it steady - what's he on about? I'll be straight back knocking them in'
- 'I'm not retiring just yet. It'll come to me, I'm sure, but I hate idleness - I haven't had an idle moment in 60 years'