Dear Dubai apologists...

[tector]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

I don't think Godolphin discloses private purchase prices but just this year they paid out a fortune between Vineyard Haven, Desert Party, and Regal Ransom. Midshipman, who they got in the purchase from Stonerside, cannot be quantified.

According to this:

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/o...cky_Derby_run/,

Vineyard Haven alone cost $12 million.

And no one here seems to comprehend that entire focus of Team Dubai's dirt breeding and training operation is to win the Derby--anything else that falls out of the process is gravy. We are talking about hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade or so.

Here's an interesting flashback:

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/...from_duba.html

And here we get the update:

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/0...-1st-derby-win

Yet all the setbacks through the years have done little to change the way Sheik Mohammed runs his program. His best 3-year-olds will spend the winters in Dubai. That's it.

"He's a very, very competitive man and if somebody told him he couldn't do it from Dubai, well, he is going to do it from Dubai," said trainer Eoin Harty, who guided Desert Party as a 2-year-old before he was moved to Godolphin.

Like the Yankees, Sheik Mohammed spares no expense in search of a championship.

Godolphin horses are superstars in Dubai and well taken care of at the stable's state-of-the-art training facility. Life is just as good on the road. Desert Party and Regal Ransom traveled to Churchill Downs in their own planes and have their every step closely monitored by an attentive staff and a nation glued to a popular 24-hour racing channel.

Ferguson has spent more than $281 million on over 300 yearlings at the Keeneland September sale in the last 10 years. It hasn't led to a Derby win but that doesn't mean Sheik Mohammed is going to keep his wallet closed when he sees a horse he likes.

The spending spree has slowed recently, but not because of the economic downturn. All that buying has helped Sheik Mohammed build an impressive collection of stallions and broodmares, and the hope is one day he'll be able to breed a winner without having to buy one.

[tector]

By the way, am I the only one who remembers this book?

http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Derby-B...1582849&sr=1-1

Apparently.

[SniperSB23]

I guess I'm alone in that I hate Sheikh Mo, hate Pletcher, but love what Sheikh Hamdan has done for the game. And even after seeing the Derby I still believe that anyone betting a Pletcher horse not named Dunkirk was far more foolish than anyone betting a Dubai horse. As was anyone betting the winner.