Leading Owner-Breeder Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Dies

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, a leading owner-breeder in Britain and member of the ruling family of Dubai, died on Monday.

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid has enjoyed significant success over the past 30 years, much of it thanks to his Classic-winning filly Zomaradah, who proved a wonderful broodmare, most notably as the dam of Dubawi. The latter, from the sole crop of Dubai Millennium, raced in the colours of his cousin Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Godolphin operation, winning three Group 1 races including the Irish 2,000 Guineas, before becoming a stallion of international repute and Darley's first champion sire of Britain and Ireland.

More recently, Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's most influential broodmare has been the outstanding matron Reem Three. Her many winners include the G1 Queen Anne Stakes victor and now young Darley sire Triple Time, who has recently been joined at Dalham Hall Stud by Reem Three's grandsons Rosallion and Inisherin, both of whom were Group 1 winners in 2024.

During another successful year on the track with his runners, Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's horses have notched 40 wins in Britain in 2025, including 13 stakes victories. Most recently, his homebred Royal Champion won the G2 Bahrain International Trophy for Karl Burke, who is one of four trainers in Britain currently on the roster for the prominent owner, along with Richard Hannon, Kevin Ryan and George Boughey. The latter trains the unbeaten two-year-old Bow Echo, winner of the G2 Royal Lodge Stakes in September.

Rosallion, winner of last year's Irish 2,000 Guineas as well as the St James's Palace Stakes, was the most recent Classic winner for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid on a list which includes Derby winner High-Rise and the aforementioned Zomaradah, winner of the Oaks d'Italia. He also owned and bred the 2023 Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup winner Without A Fight, and was the owner of Postponed, winner of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Juddmonte International among his four Group 1 victories. 

Karl Burke, whose stakes winners for the sheikh this year include the promising Group 3-winning juvenile Hankelow as well as Zeus Olympios, Ice Max and Liberty Lane, paid tribute to the owner-breeder.

He said, “His horses were everything to him. He rang me at 12.30 this afternoon and we had a 20-minute conversation about the horses. And I was due to meet him with George Boughey next week to talk about the Guineas horses. So when I got a call a few hours later to say that he'd died, it was a bit of a shock.

“It's very sad for his family. I know he was very much a family man as well.”

Burke continued, “It came out of the blue when he first came into our yard. He always used to make a joke of it, that his friends used to ask him why he sent us horses. But he said he'd been watching our results for a few years. I think he liked to be a bit of a maverick and do his own thing, and obviously, it was very much a privilege to have trained for him.

“What's so sad, really, for him as far as the horses go, is that he was so looking forward to his team of horses that he had for next year, and not just the ones we've got here. George has Bow Echo, who looks a really nice horse.

“He's got some fantastic mares who are brilliantly managed by Liam O'Rourke. All the guys I spoke to that trained for him, who get his homebred yearlings, we've all said that there's another fantastic bunch in this year, so there was loads to look forward to.”

He added, “Our thoughts go to his family. Obviously, it's a very sad time for them.”

Discussing the career of Reem Three in an interview with TDN in 2024, Liam O'Rourke, Darley's director of studs, stallions and breeding, reflected on the significant success of the family, whose connection to Sheikh Mohammed Obaid stretches back to his purchase of Reem Three's granddam Donya, a daughter of Mill Reef and the Prix de Diane and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud victrix Dunette, from her breeder Vincent O'Brien.

He said, “It now spans over five generations, back to Donya. There were a couple of quieter generations in between, but this has been very much one of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's creation, and it has been his great passion.

“He, of course, encourages us to use the the best quality stallions around. Some of them are Godolphin and Darley [stallions], which is a positive on virtually all fronts, but it's very much his creation and it's come a mighty long way.

“We're now arriving at the stage where we are hopefully creating very high-class animals. Group 1 winners in certain cases already, Classic winners very recently, and perhaps a couple of nice stallion prospects as well for the future. So it has come a long way, but he must take all the credit.”