Frosty reception for Sheikh Mohammad

His Highness Sheikh Mohammad of Dubai was greeted on his arrival at Summerhill with the coldest night in seven years. The mercury plunged to an icy -7° c, leaving our landscape a winter wonderland. Sheikh Mohammad’s schedule for today includes a visit with the Premier, the honorable Mr. Sbu Ndebele and Dr Zweli Mkhize, Minister of Finance and Economic Development.

The entourage moves onto Champion Trainer Mike de Kock’s Summerveld quarters for a visit to his horses, and will be followed by a TV interview with Top Billing to be aired on Thursday 31^st May at 7:30 pm on SABC 3.

This was an historic visit, not only for Summerhill, but also for South Africa. The Zulu staff on the farm made the Sheikh known he was in Zululand with a most spectacular early evening show amidst 350 people in the Stallion Barn.

Life will never be the same again – this man, generous, humble and fun-loving touched every soul on the place.

(Photos courtesy Heather Morkel)

History in the making

Sheikh Mohammad Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum enjoying a welcome luncheon at the StudSummerhill Stud and Hartford House woke up to sub-zero temperatures today.

Not even the eagerly-anticipated arrival of His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum could melt the ice. He, however, was received with the warm hospitality for which Summerhill and Hartford are renowned.

More details on the Sheikh’s visit tomorrow.

Tomorrow marks the arrival of the Top Billing crew. The feature on Hartford will be on the magazine programme’s Thursday, May 31 slot. Remember to tune in at 19h30.

The Royal Visit

Sheikh Mohammad Bin Khalifa Al MaktoumThe countdown to the arrival on Thursday of His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohammad bin Khalifah al Maktoum has begun. For once, our Zulu staff love these occasions and being the great entertainers they are, they are practising madly in anticipation of the Sheikh’s arrival. This will involve a trance dance on the part of our resident sangomas (shaman), performance from three choral groups, a gumboot dance and a Shosholoza “guard of honour,” which will serenade the arrival in the Sheikh’s colours of Hobb Alwahtan in the traditional Summerhill way.

By any standards, Sheikh Mohammad’s team travel in some style. There will be four aircraft, eleven air crew, besides the fourteen people in his private party, and the catering arrangements connected with the feeding of a multitude.

No doubt, there will be those who will be intrigued at the list besides those that make up the more than one ton of baggage that accompanies the party, and which will be imported from Dubai. An empty aircraft has been allocated the task of carrying this load.

The Premier of Kwa Zulu Natal, Mr. Sbu Ndebele and his Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr Zweli Mkhize were among the first to acknowledge their interest in attending. Whilst final arrangements are still to be settled, the likelihood is that we will be seeing them on Thursday. The security arrangements around this visit are intricate, with the South African authorities and the United Arab Emirate Consulate having embarked on a programme on their own, whilst the impending arrival of the Premier and the Minister of Finance involves another substantial team altogether.

Some of us have already attended private banquets at Sheikh Mohammad’s private palace in Dubai. He is one of the most charming men one could wish to meet, and entertains generously in the traditional Arab style. The team at Summerhill are in for some delightful surprises during the course of the week. As they taste for the first time the dishes our friends from the desert have feasted upon for centuries.

Two Champions: One Small Barn

The worst kept secret in the world revolves around Summerhill’s interest in the Breeder’s Cup Mile Champion of 2006, Miesque’s Approval. Charlotte Webber, heiress to the Campbell Soup empire who owned him right through his career, arranged for Team Summerhill to see him this morning.

Invasor working out in Dubai this morning. Photo courtesy of Dubai Racing Club / Andrew WatkinsAs it happens, he’s a quarantine barn mate of the World Champion of last season, Invasor, and they face one another across the passage. There’s no animosity of course, as they’re engaged in different events.

One thing they do have in common, though, is the fact they’re both World Class, and great horses always have something that tells you what made them great.

Neither is a big robust feller, but they’re both consummate athletes, with the scope and range that gives them their competence. Each is possessed of a great hip and fantastic balance.

Tomorrow’s a big night for both of them; Invasor has already had to beat Bernardini to get the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year, yet there are those that believe he still has to take on Discreet Cat before he knows the crown is safe. The public can’t split them. They’re both 11/8 in the betting.

This week the World Cricket Cup saw 4 wickets from 4 balls for the first time. And yesterday a Summerhill-connected horse made it 4 weeks in a row that the Farm stallions have delivered up a Stakes winner.

Dynamite Mike’s facile win in the Riverside Handicap (South Africa’s first Listed event on the sand) was a compliment to the form of the S.A. Classic (Gr1) a month ago. A very good sixth in that event, “Dynamite” (by Fard) came with an electrifying burst in the final strides to take the laurels going away.

That makes it seven Stakes winners for the Summerhill stallions inside the month of March, and since there’s so much going on in Dubai, it’s appropriate they should all be Maktoum horses.

Dynamite’s dam, Beyond The Call, happens also to be part of a package Sheikh Mohammed acquired in partnership with the Farm for his newly arrived sire, HOBB ALWAHTAN, to whom she carries.

His Highness has a big weekend ahead with favourites for the Golden Slipper (in Australia), as well as the UAE Derby in Dubai, so this news is the best portent for the next few days.

Dubai News 2

FROM OUR DUBAI CORRESPONDENT

The excitement in the lead up to the Dubai World Cup Meeting on Saturday 31st March has to be seen to be believed. Whilst it doesn’t stand alone as the World’s biggest meeting, it ranks as its most cosmopolitan. There are top class horses from almost every corner of the racing globe including all of the Americas, Britain, Ireland and Europe, Japan, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and of course, South Africa. It follows that the meeting is packed with people representing all these nations, and with something approaching US$25 million on offer in the form of prize money, it certainly ranks as the richest turf event in history.

Betting of course is non-existent in Muslim countries, so the whole show is all about horses, and that makes it unique once again. Everybody is here out of love and admiration for this great game we’re engaged in, and for the animals that make it tick. For the entire week we will be around some of the best horses in the world, and while most racing fans will have some kind of understanding of what we’re reporting, you’ll never really know what it means until you’ve experienced it.

Mullins Bay on his way to his first Group success at YorkThe action started with the post-position draws for the meeting, and we were all disappointed with Mullins Bay’s no. 14 slot. Of course, he has terrific tactical speed, and he should be able to get away on terms, though he will now have to race wide to be up with the pace. Sand is not his preferred surface (The Godolphin mile is on sand) but racing wide will at least mean less “kick-back” in the way of sand. At least we have Weichong Marwing in the saddle, and as one of the best practitioners of art in the world, he’s bound to give him his best shot, even in these circumstances. One things for sure, and that is a stiff pace will suit him, as he is one of those who keeps on finding, and he won’t be short of stamina when the others are stopping, assuming Mike de Kock has him near the top of his game. We know he’s not had the best of preps, but he has a natural fitness, and at a mile, he “could run fresh”. Anyway you have to believe these things if you’re an optimist, and we’ll keep on kidding ourselves up to the race. Don’t forget, his last five starts have yielded a first, a first and three consecutive seconds.

Thursday morning is an auspicious occasion, as the Who’s Who gather at Nad Al Sheba racecourse for what is billed as the “Breakfast with the Stars”. Everyone of the many hundreds of dignitaries gathered in Dubai will be there to meet the jockeys, trainers and owners, and of course the various racing and media personalities from around the globe. Each year the television presenters choose a panel of people to provide their views and expectations for the event, and as was the case two years ago, Mick Goss has been invited once again to participate. The Tellytrack team will be in attendance as well, and there is every possibility these proceedings will be relayed back to South Africa on the Monday evening programme following the World Cup itself, so we’ll see how good these “experts” really are!

That evening our team will be slogging their way to the desert for the great barbeque, (it’s really tough in this part of the world like Africa). This is one of the world’s great party legends. Traditionally the desert is transformed into a great “Sheikhdom” of a tented laager, and nothing, but nothing is spared in the way of food, entertainment and the best of champagnes, wines and everything else the world has to offer. A great number of Summerhill’s most enduring relationships have been formed at this event, and with such a strong presence this year, we’re hoping to bring home a few new friends. Stick with us: we’ll keep you posted.

Before we leave you though, we’re reminded of the inaugural desert braai way back in 1996, when the great South African horsemen, Graham Beck and Laurie Jaffee were invited to take a camel ride by Sheikh Mohammed. Graham Beck might be a great wine maker, but he’s no jockey, I promise! Laurie Jaffee, a Summerhill customer since the gates opened, is no Pierre Strydom either.