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Hamdan bin Rashid gives boost to horse breeding in Latin America

DUBAI - Horse breeding in Latin America received a substantial boost after leading horse owner and breeder Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance, decided to extend his operations to Brazil, Chile and Argentine.

“It is going to be a strong well funded campaign for the much needed stuttering bloodstock breeding industry in the three countries,” said Mirza Al Sayegh, director of Shaikh Hamdan’s office, who returned recently from a short visit to South America.

Shaikh Hamdan’s powerful operation Shadwell has successfully sponsored Thoroughbreds races in Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires and Santiago during the second half of October.

“To be honest, our main motivation was to promote the UAE and the operation of Shaikh Hamdan there. But, after examining the place, we came to discover that Latin America is the future of horse breeding and reproduction process. The only setback is the lack of sufficient funds to finance the bloodstock industry in the region and this is what Shaikh Hamdan is going to make available by establishing a strong presence in this part of the world,” Al Sayegh added.

“The first step is to take some farms on long lease contracts in Chile, Argentine and Brazil in places where the weather conditions and surrounding atmosphere is similar to Europe and ideal for horse breeding. The original agreement was to take the first 25 progenies and give our partners in the said countries the second five progenies, but Shaikh Hamdan amended the agreement in their favour. We were directed to take only the first 15 against 10 progenies for our Latin American partners to show some kind of support for the industry in the region,” he said.

hisham@khaleejtimes.com