Phoenix Thoroughbreds, founded by Amer Abdulaziz is a global racing & bloodstock investment group which aims to be among the best equine operations worldwide. Phoenix Thoroughbreds owns over US$25 million in bloodstock, with stables in the United States, Europe, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Ten Furlongs interviews the racing industry leader, Amer Abdulaziz to find out more about his passion for horses and Phoenix Thoroughbreds horses’ journey to Dubai World Cup night:
Q: What does winning on Dubai World Cup night mean to for you as a racehorse owner and also as the head of Phoenix Thoroughbreds?
A: It would mean a great deal. Phoenix Thoroughbreds is all about competing and being successful at the top level and World Cup Night is one of the most significant events on the Calendar. One day I hope we can win all the big races but given we're based in Dubai, from where we have grown our fund, it would be extra special to win a race on the card and fingers crossed we can win the big one itself. I imagine it would be right up there alongside winning at Royal Ascot.
Q: Trust, teamwork, and respect. How valuable do you think these terms are for you as an owner? Why?
A: It’s a massive part of our culture at Phoenix especially as we have staff all around the world. We speak regularly, but we also need our people to work with a certain sense of independence. All the parts of the fund need to come together to work as one and pushing in the same direction so whether it’s the trainers, our marketing team, bloodstock business or even our legal department we need everything to function correctly to be successful. Without trust and teamwork, this couldn’t happen. I'm pleased to say the team we currently have in place matches those qualities.
Q: What do you remember about those initial days when you started Phoenix Thoroughbreds?
A: We did a lot of groundwork developing the idea before we even considered buying our first horse in order to be fully prepared to move forward and meet our goals. Additionally, we wanted to take that time to explain to investors and our regulators precisely what we were trying to achieve. It was an entirely new concept and although hard work at first we managed to show everyone that our way of approaching racehorse ownership and breeding could be a success. We perhaps made some small mistakes in those early days but we learnt from them, and the fund is stronger because of that.
Q: Which horse would you say is your favourite horse, in the whole world and why?
A: It’s quite often whichever horse is running and winning on any given day! But seriously, I will always have a huge soft spot of Dream Tree. She was our first Grade, One winner, at our first attempt and indeed announced to the world that Phoenix Thoroughbreds had arrived on the World Stage.
Q: What do you enjoy most about racing at Meydan?
A: Racing at the top level under the lights is an extraordinary experience, and there’s no venue quite like it anywhere else in the World. The facilities and tracks are high class, and the way the Carnival brings together runners from so many countries is genuinely unique. When you have a runner at Meydan, you know you are racing against some of the best horses around.
Q: What excites you about 2019? And what would you say was your biggest disappointment in 2018?
A: We had a great year with our two-year-olds, especially in the UK, and it’s exciting to dream about what they might achieve next season. Advertise was our first European Group One winner and he’ll have his sights on the 2000 Guineas and other top races of over a mile. Kadar is a colt we like very much, and he looks very much like a Derby horse in the making.
While we shouldn’t forget the likes of Magic J, who was also extremely good on his only start. We also have a few others entered in the classics, who you are yet to see, that we have high hopes for, so hopefully 2019 can prove a very big year. We’ll also be hoping for another winner at Royal Ascot following our first with Signora Cabello last season. She’ll be back this year targeting in the Commonwealth Cup and Kings Stand. We were lucky enough to have more up than downs last season but if anything, it was disappointing that Dream Tree got injured so close to the Breeders’ Cup. She was working very well and we were convinced she was going to run a big race.
Q: After Dubai World Cup night where will your horses be pointed to next?
A: Most of our plans will be formulated after our horses run. For Axelrod and Gronkowski this has been their main aim. That said I would expect both to head back to the US after the World Cup.
Sands Of Mali is probably the only of our runners on World Cup night to have a firm plan in place at this stage as he’ll be aimed at Royal Ascot after his run in the Al Quoz.
Q: To compete at the highest level, passion is paramount. Passion is also defined by values such as continuously moving forward, innovating, and improving. Are these the values by which you see your passion played out in real life?
A: Innovating is the name of the game for Phoenix Thoroughbreds. We are a forward thinking fund breaking new ground. The reason I set up the fund in the first place was to share my passion for racing and breeding with other investors, some of which have not had an interest in the sport before. I wanted to combine that with my experience in the financial sector and show you can make money by investing in thoroughbreds.
Q: What was the first leadership lesson you learnt in racing?
A: I’ve been lucky enough to have had success as an owner with Arabian horses in the past, so I took a lot from that part of my life into Phoenix Thoroughbreds. I guess the most significant lesson, as with any financial investment, is to make decisions with your head, not your heart. Don’t make knee-jerk reactions but consider all the angles carefully. I’d also say doing your research is a vital lesson to learn to make sure you know all there is to know before making any decision.
Q: How would you design a truly commercial horse, if you had a way to do so?
A: It would be nice if we could do this, design our own horse. I think to make money from a horse you need to think beyond its racing career, so an excellent pedigree is a good start, it means that you already have a half decent chance of making the horse a success in the breeding sheds. Also, I like versatile horses that can win over a variety of distances and in different circumstances, Sea The Stars and Justify come to mind as horses that fit that description. If you want a successful stallion a good name is also a plus on the marketing front!
When we buy horses, we put in a lot of research before we raise a hand to bid. We have a top bloodstock team with years of experience between them. We all comb through pedigrees in the sales catalogues before looking at the horses in the flesh. Sometimes a horse will catch our eye as we walk around the sales ground and we’ll have a look at that one too. Depending on what we're in the market for depends on the type of horse we’re interested in.
Q: Where your passion for horses comes from?
A: I grew up around horses on my family’s former stud farm where we bred Arabian horses, so I have always had a great passion for them. It wasn’t until I went to Berkeley to study that I found a love for Thoroughbreds. I used to go to Golden Gate fields to watch the racing there and my interest grew from there.
Q: If you could spend a day in someone else’s shoes, whose would it be and why?
A: This is a bit tricky to answer as I love to meet interesting people, to sit down with them and exchange ideas. I would have loved to have had a conversation with Nelson Mandela, a true visionary but so humble at the same time. But to answer your question, I guess it would be fun to experience a different kind of lifestyle. I developed an interest in basketball during my studies in America and to have a day as someone like “Magic Johnson” (who our winning three-year-old Magic J is named after) during his peak years would be interesting, just to see what life is like for a World Class athlete.
Q: Who was the biggest influence in your life?
A: Not so much my life but HRH Sheikh Mohammed has been a big influence on my career especially in setting up Phoenix Thoroughbreds. His vision to see the potential in horse racing, not just as a sport but as a business was revolutionary at the time and has opened-up great opportunities in Dubai and across the Emirates. One day, although our business model is very different, I hope we can go some way to emulating his achievements in the sport.
Credit: Pallavi Shevade pallavi.shevade@secretariatsworld.com