Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum insists Mahmood Al Zarooni – the trainer at the centre of the Godolphin Racing doping scandal – will never work with his horses again.
The horse racing world was rocked in April last year when 22 horses trained by Al Zarooni at a stable in Newmarket – including St Leger winner Encke and 1,000 Guineas contender Certify – tested positive for anabolic steroids.
Sheikh Mohammed – the vice-president of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai – declared he was “appalled and angered” by the scandal and immediately ordered the stables to be locked down.
Al Zarooni was given an eight-year ban by the British Horseracing Authority and the horses were banned for six months, and for Godolphin owner Sheikh Mohammed the trainer’s relationship with the stable is completely over.
"I was shocked, really," Sheikh Mohammed told the BBC. "I have many trainers and if one of them does the wrong things, you know – they gave him eight years, and I gave him lifetime. Finished.”
When asked by the BBC if he had seen Al Zarooni since the scandal, Sheikh Mohammed replied that the trainer “comes and sees some other friends but he will never come near horses."
There was fresh controversy surrounding endurance racing in September following the seizures of illegal veterinary drugs from a stables near Newmarket and a private jet at Stansted Airport.
Former London police chief Lord Stevens was appointed the head of an internal inquiry by Sheikh Mohammed’s wife, Princess Haya, into the Sheikh’s worldwide equine interests.
Sheikh Mohammed is confident the inquiry led by Lord Stevens will get to the bottom of the issues and reveal the whole truth.
"We put an investigator, Lord Stevens, to really go through everything and meet everybody and I think he is independent and doing a good job. He hasn't finished yet but I hope good luck for him.
"The truth will come out because of independent Lord Stevens."
