Britain’s most prestigious and richest horse race, the Epsom Derby took place this weekend in Surrey, where the winning horse of the 239 year old race, and it’s team, land a permanent spot as one of the world’s greatest of all time in the racing sport.
This year, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s horse, Masar, made history and won the Godolphin team this prestigious award, finishing in first place at the race.
Making the occasion even more significant was the presence of the Sheikh’s family, including his wife, Princess Haya, son HH Sheikh Hamdan and 10-year-old daughter 10-year-old Sheikha Al Jalila.
HH Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan posted a video on Instagram of himself watching the moment in which Masar passed the finishing line, in which we see the prince shout “YES!” before he removes his top hat and hugs his father to congratulate him. The end of the video also shows a glimpse of the Sheikh Mohammed’s infamous victory dance.
It is well known that Dubai’s royal family are extremely fond of horses and horse racing, and we saw many pictures posted by the royals themselves across Twitter and Instagram, including one in which they all take a moment to shake hands with Queen Elizabeth II.
Messages to congratulate the Maktoum family on their historical win filtered in from all over the world, including well wishes from Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who tweeted his regards.
The Godolphin stables seem to be going from strength to strength, following another horse of the team, Thunder Snow finishing first at the high stakes Dubai World Cup in April this year, which marked their seventh victory at the world cup.
However, the win at the Epsom Derby was team Godolphin’s first following near victories on three occasions coming in at second place in 1998, 2004 and 2015.
The Sheikh is delighted and stated in a post-race interview on television, “It is not easy to win the Derby but we have won it. This a big race and there is always something special about it. My daughter is here and the horse came from Dubai. I’m very happy. Horses are in my blood. I love horses, and I love racing.”
