Sheikh’s missing daughter casts shadow over Derby favorite

Associated PressApr 29, 2021, 6:43 PM EDT

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has spent millions trying to win the Kentucky Derby, and in the process plowing money into horse racing worldwide. Now with the overwhelming favorite, Dubai’s ruler faces increased scrutiny for allegations that he has violated human rights and orchestrated the disappearance of his own daughter.

The controversy, well-known in the Middle East for a more than a year, has gotten renewed attention as Essential Quality prepares for Saturday’s race. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission received a complaint this week from a group of human rights attorneys and students at the University of Louisville seeking to have Sheikh Mohammed banned from the Derby.

The complaint asks the racing commission to bar Sheikh Mohammed from entering any horses in any races, including the Derby and the Kentucky Oaks on Friday “until such time as his daughter, Princess Latifa, is free from captivity, or (b) hold an immediate public hearing to assess the serious allegations of his human rights abuses.”

Kristin Voskul, spokeswoman for the KHRC, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. However, the complaint is not expected to keep the sheikh’s horse out of the Derby.

One of his daughters, Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum, said last spring that she is being held against her will, according to video diaries she said were recorded inside a Dubai villa and broadcast by the BBC. Sheikha Latifa was detained by commandos in 2018 after she tried to flee Dubai in a yacht.

The princess’ 38-year-old sister, Shamsa, was taken from Cambridge, England, on Aug. 19, 2000, and hasn’t been seen since. A judge in England ruled last year that Sheikh Mohammed orchestrated both abductions. The sheikh had told the the court he was relieved at having found his “vulnerable” daughter Shamsa after she went missing.

The judge was ruling on a case between Sheikh Mohammed and his second official wife, Princess Haya, over their two children. She is the daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, and married Sheikh Mohammed in 2004. She fled Dubai in 2019 with her two children saying that she was scared of her husband’s threats.

The cases are particularly sensitive in Britain because of economic and historic links to Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed, who is vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, is hugely influential in Britain’s racing industry because of the money he spends on breeding and racing. He is friendly with fellow horse enthusiast Queen Elizabeth II.

The sheikh is well-known in Kentucky racing circles, with his Godolphin operations based at Jonabell Farm in Lexington. While the sheikh won’t be among the limited fans in attendance Saturday, Churchill Downs spokesman Darren Rogers indicated the protest has little chance of success.

“Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid currently holds a valid racing license in the state of Kentucky. There have been no horse racing violations and nor are we aware of any other U.S. regulatory or governmental investigations,” Rogers said. “We are focused on the three-year-old thoroughbreds who have earned their way into this year’s Kentucky Derby and our responsibility is to the integrity of the race and the safety of those horses.”

The United Nations human rights office has raised concerns about Latifa’s treatment by the UAE and sought evidence that the princess was still alive. The UAE’s embassy in London has said the princess was being cared for by her family and medical professionals.

Sheikha Latifa’s supporters have urged President Joe Biden to pressure Sheikh Mohammed to release her, saying Biden is one of the few world leaders with the stature to win her freedom.

Sheikh Mohammad has been involved in other controversies, including being accused in 2006 of encouraging the abduction and enslavement of boys for use as jockeys in camel races. A class-action lawsuit filed in Florida was dismissed.

In 2013, a trainer for the al Maktoum family’s Godolphin stable was banned for eight years by British racing authorities for administering steroids to horses. The sheikh responded by outlawing the use of anabolic steroids on horses in the UAE.

The latest controversy coincides with the sheikh’s strongest bid yet to win the Kentucky Derby after 11 previous attempts have failed. Essential Quality, an undefeated gray colt, is the early 2-1 favorite in a full field of 20 horses.

Sheikh Mohammed founded Godolphin in 1994 and is owner of Darley, one of the industry’s major breeding operations, with farms in Kentucky, England, Ireland and Australia.

Godolphin has won many of the world’s most prestigious horse races, with the exception of the Kentucky Derby. The sheikh created the lucrative Dubai World Cup race that attracts the top horses to compete in the desert.

Forte works out, waits for Belmont Stakes clearance

Associated PressMay 27, 2023, 3:14 PM EDT

Matt Stone/USA TODAY NETWORK

NEW YORK — Forte, the early Kentucky Derby favorite who was scratched on the day of the race, worked out in preparation for a possible start in the Belmont Stakes on June 10.

Under regular rider Irad Ortiz Jr., Forte worked five-eighths of a mile for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. It was the colt’s second workout since being scratched from the Derby on May 6.

“It seems like he’s maintained his fitness level,” Pletcher said. “It seems like everything is in good order.”

Forte was placed on a mandatory 14-day veterinary list after being scratched from the Derby because of a bruised right front foot. In order to be removed from the list, the colt had to work in front of a state veterinarian and give a blood sample afterward, the results of which take five days.

“There’s protocols in place and we had to adhere to those and we’re happy that everything went smoothly,” Pletcher said. “We felt confident the horse was in good order or we wouldn’t have been out there twice in the last six days, but you still want to make sure everything went smoothly and we’re happy everything did go well.”

Pletcher said Kingsbarns, who finished 14th in the Kentucky Derby, will miss the Belmont. The colt is showing signs of colic, although he is fine, the trainer said.

Another Pletcher-trained horse, Prove Worthy, is under consideration for the Belmont. He also has Tapit Trice, who finished seventh in the Derby, being pointed toward the Belmont.

Judge grants Churchill Downs’ request for summary judgment to dismiss Bob Baffert’s lawsuit

Associated PressMay 25, 2023, 9:36 PM EDT

Abbey Cutrer/USA TODAY NETWORK

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge has granted Churchill Downs’ motion for summary judgment that dismisses Bob Baffert’s claim the track breached due process by suspending the Hall of Fame trainer for two years.

Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Baffert in June 2021 after his now-deceased colt, Medina Spirit, failed a postrace drug test after crossing the finish line first in the 147th Kentucky Derby. The trainer’s request to lift the discipline was denied in February, keeping him out of the Derby for a second consecutive May.

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled in a 12-page opinion issued Wednesday that Churchill Downs’ suspension of Baffert did not devalue his Kentucky trainer’s license. It cited his purse winnings exceeding $1 million at Keeneland in Lexington and stated that his argument “amounts to a false analogy that distorts caselaw.”

Jennings denied CDI’s motion to stay discovery as moot.

The decision comes less than a week after Baffert-trained colt National Treasure won the Preakness in his first Triple Crown race in two years. His record eighth win in the second jewel of the Triple Crown came hours after another of his horses, Havnameltdown, was euthanized following an injury at Pimlico.

Churchill Downs said in a statement that it was pleased with the court’s favorable ruling as in Baffert’s other cases.

It added, “While he may choose to file baseless appeals, this completes the seemingly endless, arduous and unnecessary litigation proceedings instigated by Mr. Baffert.”

Baffert’s suspension is scheduled to end on June 2, but the track’s release noted its right to extend it “and will communicate our decision” at its conclusion.