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| Staff Writer |
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Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United manager, is experiencing a dream come true as his horse, Spirit Dancer, takes on the world's best on the international stage. Being a horse breeder, he never anticipated that he would have a horse capable of competing at such a level.
Sir Alex is a renowned figure in the racing world, having won several high-profile victories in the National Hunt sphere. However, he did not achieve the same success in Flat racing until he began to train the seven-year-old Spirit Dancer in partnership with Richard Fahey.
Spirit Dancer won the Strensall Stakes at York last summer, which earned him an invitation to the Bahrain International Trophy, where he emerged victorious. He recently finished fourth in the Gr.1 Jebel Hatta at Meydan in Dubai. Spirit Dancer is now set to compete in the Howden Neom Turf Cup in Riyadh on Saturday, a race that could earn him almost £1million if he wins.
"One of the great advantages of having a really good horse is international racing. We never dreamed, when I bred Spirit Dancer, that he would end up getting as far as this," Ferguson told The Saudi Cup.
"We're so excited about it and after Bahrain we are quite optimistic.
"He had a little problem when he was three years of age, he got over that and he's just got better and better. He's not had a lot of racing. That's what Richard keeps saying, that he can race a lot more than he's been doing. So we're getting the benefit.
"The international element is something we didn't expect. I'd been to Dubai some years back and I was saying to myself I wonder what it's like to have a horse involved in it – now we've got one, I'm enjoying it.
"Competing with the likes of Aidan O'Brien and the Japanese, you know you are up against the best, and we're enjoying it."
Ferguson has been involved in racing for nearly 30 years, and it's safe to say he's more engaged now than ever before.
"It was round about 1995 that I remember my wife saying I was going to kill myself because my whole day was absorbed with the (football) club," he explained.
"One day, I said to my wife 'shall we go to the races?'. She asked where that had come from and I told her it was her who said I needed to start doing something else.
"We were at the races one day when I met John Mulhern and Dessie Scahill and I got hooked. She once said 'you want to buy all the right horses', well, I'm trying!
"I got into breeding by accident, I was in Germany visiting Andreas Wohler and he put the idea in my mind, I bought a horse from him, the mare Queen's Dream (Spirit Dancer's dam).
"A friend of mine then put the idea in my head about buying the stud in Hemel Hempstead. I said we'd have a go and it's been great. They are fantastic people there, we had a foal there last week by Stradivarius, so it's great."
This marks Ferguson's second visit to Saudi Arabia. His first was in 2008 when Manchester United participated in a testimonial match to honor local player Sam Al Jaber, who had over 150 appearances for his country.
"We came to Saudi about 15 years ago to play in a game to celebrate a famous player who had 150 international caps. The King bought 80,000 tickets and gave them all away to the people and it was fantastic," said Ferguson.
Spirit Dancer is co-owned by bookmaker Fred Done and Ferguson's close friend Ged Mason, with whom he shares ownership of most of his horses. Mason, who is actively involved in Ferguson's racing ventures, orchestrated a memorable, albeit painful, celebration in Bahrain.
"Ged broke my rib celebrating in Bahrain, I won't mind him breaking another if it means we win!" said Ferguson.
Mason is loving being involved in the ride and is thrilled at the enjoyment Ferguson is getting from the game.
"When he came round the bend at Bahrain, it was a fantastic sight and the way he pulled away was a pinch yourself moment, to be honest," said Mason.
"He got the invite to Bahrain because he'd produced the goodies at York. I'm so proud for Sir Alex because he bred him and he's out of Frankel.
"I think our first venture into ownership was What A Friend and what a friend he was to us, he got our appetite for winning. Clan Des Obeaux won King Georges and Irish Gold Cups, it's been a fantastic journey and we don't want it to stop."