A party was held in Newmarket last Tuesday to mark the events of an incredible week but this was no celebration for a mission being accomplished.
Wathnan Racing – the venture of Sheikh Tamim Al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar – had enjoyed stellar results at Royal Ascot, their peacock blue and old gold silks carried to victory in four races. Granted a bit of luck and a bob of the head here and there, the tally could easily have been six.
Each winner, starting with the flying filly Leovanni in the Queen Mary Stakes on Wednesday, felt increasingly significant. Wathnan had been on a ferocious recruitment drive, with estimates suggesting they had invested more than £20million to assemble a team of horses good enough to be competitive.
Finance doesn’t guarantee anything in sport, never mind racing, so this had been a triumph of judgement for Olly Tait and Richard Brown, the men who had been tasked with unearthing gems. If Wathnan were a football club, Tait and Brown would be the Sporting Director and Chief Scout.
So they had every right to feel satisfied as they reflected on Tuesday but, equally, there was a clear message in the room: this is just the start. A new player is emerging on the global flat racing stage and – like any progressive organisation – what matters to them now are future objectives, not what is behind.
Wathnan Racing impressed at Royal Ascot, with Leovanni winning the Queen Mary Stakes
There was further success, with Shareholder a blistering winner of the Norfolk Stakes
‘We said to all our team who attended, let’s enjoy Tuesday but it all starts again tomorrow,’ Brown, Wathnan’s Racing Advisor, tells Mail Sport.
‘Everyone is very hungry for continued success and we have got a clear remit that we will enjoy trying to achieve.
‘So many people have made this possible and there has been a lot of pressure but it was all worthwhile. Our task, essentially, is simple: we have to source the horses that the Emir and his family can be proud of. They are very hands on and it’s quite a unique opportunity.’
And it has been quite a whirlwind 12 months. Wathnan Racing only registered as owners in Britain in May 2023 – six weeks later their first runners at made the most incredible entrance, with Courage Mon Ami and Gregory winning the Ascot Gold Cup and Queen’s Vase respectively.
In the year since, Tait, who is based predominately in Australia, and Brown have been looking relentlessly for opportunities and they now have an expanding team of horses for trainers in Britain, France and Ireland. There is no limit to the horizons and today they occupy sixth place in the Owners Championship.
Wathnan’s emergence has added a fascinating dimension to the narrative of the flat season, genuine new challengers for the biggest prizes. The four successful Royal Ascot horses, certainly, look capable of progressing up the ladder.
Leovanni set the ball rolling but her stablemate Shareholder, who is also trained in North Yorkshire by Karl Burke, was a blistering winner of the Norfolk Stakes and it would be no surprise to see them both reappear at Glorious Goodwood at the end of next month.
English Oak, trained by Ed Walker, was successful in winning the Buckingham Palace Stakes
Haatem, who was acquired at considerable expense, managed to win the Hersey Stakes
Then there is English Oak and Haatem, trained by Ed Walker and Richard Hannon to win the Buckingham Palace and Hersey Stakes respectively, who are talented colts primed to deliver the Group One prizes The Emir would crave. Haatem was acquired at considerable expense to fulfil such ambitions.
Wathnan want to be front and centre but, on Thursday night, one of their horses – Wafei, trained in Newmarket by William Haggas – landed a modest event in the rain at Hamilton. The message is clear: if a race can be won, they will travel to win them.
‘Goodwood will be a very important meeting for us,’ Brown explained. ‘It is sponsored by Qatar, it carries huge prestige and we will have a number of targets there. But country-wide there is great racing and we aren’t afraid to go anywhere. This is something we are all going to enjoy.’
