Hot-headed owner removes his horses from Andrew Balding yard and claims top trainer ‘isn’t lucky’
TRIGGER-HAPPY owner Sheikh Obaid has removed his horses from Andrew Balding’s yard after suggesting the trainer ‘wasn’t lucky’.
The Dubai-based billionaire has transferred seven runners from Balding’s Hampshire stable to Karl Burke in Yorkshire.
The move comes less than a month after he split from Simon and Ed Crisford, again moving his runners to Middleham-based Burke.
And he has developed a reputation for wielding the axe unexpectedly, having sacked Andrea Atzeni as retained jockey last year and infamously removing Postponed from Luca Cumani’s yard a few weeks after he won the King George.
Balding saddled two winners for Obaid this season but the notoriously impatient Sheikh became frustrated with results.
And it appears the defeat of 2-1 joint-favourite Arabic Legend in the Group 3 Autumn Stakes at Newmarket last weekend was the tipping point.
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But Classic-winning trainer Balding holds no ill-will towards Obaid.
He said: “We had no luck for him, in fairness, everything that could go wrong did go wrong with his horses.
“We had a lot of money to spend at the sales on his behalf and he sent us some very nice homebreds but it didn’t work out.
“I half expected it, he said to me a few times ‘I don’t think you’re lucky’.
“I have no complaints or hard feelings, he was very good to deal with and if he phoned me up and wanted to have horses here again I wouldn’t hesitate to say yes.
“Of course it is a big blow losing the support of a big owner like him but we have some lovely horses coming through and are in a good position going into next season.”
Balding will look to end his season on a high at the weekend on British Champions Day.
He saddles five runners, including 2000 Guineas hero Chaldean who will be ridden by Frankie Dettori in the QEII.
Balding added: “In the last two or three weeks he has really come back to his early season form.
“I honestly couldn’t be happier with him and this has been his target for a long time.”
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