From Royal Ascot triumphs to ruin and exile: how the Phoenix dream unravelled

After setting out to conquer the worlds of racing and bloodstock, Amer Abdulaziz Salman's Phoenix Thoroughbreds organisation lies in ruins having been suspended from having runners in Britain, France and Dubai, while prize-money payments have been frozen in Australia.

Launched in 2017 as the “world’s first regulated thoroughbred fund”, Phoenix splurged huge sums of money acquiring horses for its racing and breeding programme after $250 million was supposedly raised from investors for a fund based in Luxembourg that would provide it with a stable, regular return on its investment.

Despite numerous media interviews and on-course success at Royal Ascot and elsewhere, Abdulaziz never revealed his investors, citing client confidentiality.