Godolphin global spending review results in staff and sponsorship casualties

Senior racing figures around the world are bracing themselves for the outcome of a major review of marketing spend by Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin empire that has already resulted in the termination of at least one famous sponsorship and high-profile redundancies.

In a development that will shock many given Godolphin's enormous racecourse success in 2018, the operation – which embraces the sheikh's international racing team, the Darley bloodstock wing and racing sponsorships activated under the Dubai banner – is deep into a process that could have far-reaching consequences.

The Racing Post understands that Andy Wiles, global corporate director for Godolphin and Darley, is leaving the organisation, along with marketing director Bobby Brittain and a number of other staff members.

Officials at the Curragh have been told Darley will no longer back the Irish Oaks, while the launch of this year's Irish Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards has been deferred pending a decision on the sponsorship.

Contracts are in place with Newmarket until 2022 to cover the Darley July Cup and Dubai Future Champions Festival, a two-day meeting highlighted by the Darley Dewhurst Stakes.

However, York is believed to have lost Darley funding for the Yorkshire Oaks, while Darley deals in France, principally for Deauville Group 1 prizes the Prix Morny and Prix Jean Romanet, could be under threat. Race sponsorship in Germany is also set to be impacted.

Support for this year's British Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards is confirmed, but an instruction to postpone the Irish competition was given just before promotional material was due to be launched.

The latest Godolphin developments come two years after the world's biggest racing and bloodstock superpower parted company with its chief executive John Ferguson. He was then replaced by Joe Osborne, who in March last year reverted to his former role as head of the Irish division following the abolishing of the chief executive position.

It is unclear why Godolphin is now engaged in another review but it seems unlikely to relate to racecourse performance given a successful 2018 on the track was highlighted by the victory of Masar in the Derby and Cross Counter's triumph in the Melbourne Cup. It was the first time either race had been won by a horse whose jockey was wearing the famous Godolphin blue.

Amy Starkey, regional director of Jockey Club Racecourses's east region, said: "His Highness Sheikh Mohammed has been a fantastic supporter of British racing for more than 30 years.

"At Newmarket racecourses we have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with Godolphin and Dubai, as demonstrated by the announcement last year of a long-term extension to their sponsorship of the Darley July Cup and Dubai Future Champions Festival to 2022, and we are looking forward to working closely with Godolphin and Dubai on those events this year.

"We hugely appreciate and are grateful for the support of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and his team."

Godolphin declined to comment when contacted by the Racing Post.

Irish Oaks backing has rich history

Sheikh Mohammed's 30-year sponsorship of the Irish Oaks is one of the longest in Ireland or Britain as the race carried the name of the sheikh's Irish base Kildangan Stud – which he bought in 1986 – from 1988 until it came under the Darley banner in 2002, writes John Cobb.

It was dominated in the early years of the sponsorship by the sheikh's own maroon and white silks. After winning the race with the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Unite in 1987 – the last year in which it was backed by the Aga Khan's Gilltown Stud – the sheikh did even better in the first year of his sponsorship as the dead-heaters Diminuendo and Melodist carried his colours, as did the 1989 winner Alydaress.

James Doyle celebrates after winning last season's Darley Irish Oaks on Sea Of ClassCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Success for the Maktoum family has been only fleeting in subsequent years, with the sheikh's younger brother Ahmed Al Maktoum scoring with the Alex Scott-trained Possessive Dancer in 1991 and eldest brother Maktoum Al Maktoum victorious with the Ed Dunlop-trained Lailani in 2001.

The sheikh's Godolphin operation has only once taken home the sponsorship money, through Mahmood Al Zarooni-trained Blue Bunting in 2011.

Sheikh Mohammed's backing of the Yorkshire Oaks is almost as longstanding, as the race was run under the name of his first base in Britain, Aston Upthorpe Stud, from 1989 until 2005. It came under the Darley brand the following year, so has enjoyed 29 years of unbroken Maktoum family sponsorship.

Newmarket has not been required to seek any other sponsor for the July Cup for 22 years, with Darley backing the race since Anabaa captured the prize for France in 1996. It has been won only once by the sheikh through the years of his sponsorship, by Harry Angel in 2017.

This is, meanwhile, the 14th year of Godolphin backing for the Stud and Stable Staff Awards in Britain.

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