Godolphin (racing)

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Godolphin (Arabic: جودولفين) is the Maktoum family's private Thoroughbred horseracing stable and was named in honour of the Godolphin Arabian, who came from the desert to become one of the three founding stallions of the modern Thoroughbred. Godolphin is buried at Wandlebury Park in Cambridge, where there is a stone to commemorate this horse in the passageway of the old buildings.^[1]

Godolphin's headquarters are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It operates two racing stables in Newmarket, UK, two in Sydney, Australia, one in Melbourne, Australia, and also has horses in training with independent trainers in Great Britain, Australia, France, Japan, the United States, and Ireland. UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the driving force behind Godolphin.

The family's breeding operation, Darley, is named in honour of another of the three original Thoroughbred stallions, Darley Arabian. Darley breeds horses in Australia, France, Ireland, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Dubai Millennium, who won the Dubai World Cup at Nad Al Sheba, UAE and the Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot, UK in 2000, stood at Dalham Hall.

Godolphin has won over 5,000 races worldwide^[2] and numerous awards^[3] since its inception in 1992, marking their 5,000th win in August 2018. Its most successful years numerically are 2015 (650 wins), 2017 (607 wins), 2016 (597 wins), and 2014 (361 wins).

Godolphin was leading owner at the Dubai World Cup Carnival on eleven successive years from 2008 to 2018, and crowned British Champion Owner on twelve occasions - 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017. Saeed bin Suroor trained his 200th Dubai World Cup Carnival winner when the aptly-named Very Special won the G2 Cape Verdi on 26 January 2017.

Godolphin won an Eclipse Award for top North American owner at the 39th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony in 2010. It was the first time that Godolphin won the award for top North American owner. The stable has had winners in 14 countries (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Qatar, Singapore, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, and the USA). Godolphin would again win the award for top owner at the Eclipse Awards in both 2012^[4] and 2020.^[5]