Prominent racehorse owner Mohamed Obaida died Saturday in a Dubai hospital, only weeks after his most recent flagbearer Dubai Honour added another Group 1 win in the Tancred Stakes in Sydney.
Obaida’s blue and red colours were most recently carried by Dubai Honour, who has won four Group 1 races between Australia and France and has been Group 1-placed in the UK, Germany and Hong Kong.
However, they were registered more than four decades ago and first came to prominence through 1985 Epsom Oaks third Dubian, who was bred by his close friend Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum.
Dubian produced four stakes performers, all raced by Obaida: 1993 1000 Guineas winner Sayyedati, who won five Group 1 races across Britain, Ireland and France; Golden Snake, who won the G1 Prix Jean Prat before he was sold to the National Stud; Race Leader, who finished second to Giant’s Causeway in the G1 Prix de la Salamandre; and Listed-placed Dubai Typhoon.
Other notable horses to have sported his silks include G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner Air Express, Group 1-placed stayer Nayef Road and Group 3 winners Star Storm and Sueboog.
His sons Saeed and Salem are also horse owners – Saeed’s best-known horse is three-time Melbourne Cup placegetter Prince Of Arran – while his granddaughter Maitha became the first Emirati woman to hold a training licence at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
The UAE-based property developer famously refused to divulge his age after he won his first Classic in 1993, admitting he was “about 55” – which would have put him in his mid-80s upon his death, after a long illness, on Saturday.
In accordance with Islamic tradition, his funeral was held in Dubai on Sunday morning. ∎
