A horse owned by a Sheikh, trained by a South African, ridden by a Frenchman and bred by Dunmore Stud in Ireland is headed to the Kentucky Derby. His name: Mubtaahij.
The 3-year-old colt ran away with the UAE Derby over the weekend and into the No. 8 spot in the AP’s latest Run to the Roses Top 10 rankings. Minutes after the race, trainer Mike De Kock declared his intentions.
“We’re on the way,” said De Kock, the highly successful international trainer who would be saddling his first Derby starter. “Just to participate is huge.”
Mubtaahij had a perfect trip under jockey Christophe Soumillon, won the race by eighth lengths and earned 100 Derby qualifying points to secure his place in a field of 20 maximum starters.
Derby history, though, may be against the horse owned by Sheik Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum. The last foreign-bred to win was Sunny’s Halo (Canada) in 1983 and the last non-North American horse to win was Tomy Lee (Britain) in 1959. The most recent Derby runner bred in Ireland was Castledale, who finished 14th in 2004.