Sheikh Mohammed's stake in Animal Kingdom a shrewd move

The Dubai World Cup victory on Tapeta surface shows that he is effective on any surface, which will help to attract some of the best mares when he finally goes to stud.

Animal Kingdom from the U.S. works out at the Meydan racecourse two days before the Dubai World Cup, the world's richest horse racing, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, March 28, 2013. (AP PhoShow more

Sheikh Mohammed has bought into one of the most versatile horses to have come out of America in some time and his decision to purchase a 29 per cent stake in Animal Kingdom looks a shrewd one.
Animal Kingdom may not be the flashiest of work horses, preferring to take in the sights of Meydan during track work in the lead-up to his easy success in the Dubai World Cup on Saturday, but visually, he is the perfect specimen of a thoroughbred.
The giant, barrel-chested, red chestnut son of Leroidesanimaux famously won the 2011 Kentucky Derby on his first try on dirt.
He had previously won on polytrack, and put in a huge effort when finishing second to Wise Dan in the Breeders' Cup Turf off a nine-month layoff.
The two-length victory over Red Cadeaux on Meydan's Tapeta surface shows that he is effective on any surface, which will help to attract some of the best mares when he finally goes to stud.
He has been lightly campaigned due to two freak injuries, and from 11 starts he has only finished out of the first three once, when he ran in the 2011 Belmont Stakes on a sloppy track.
In the third leg of the Triple Crown he clipped heels with a horse, almost throwing rider John Velazquez, and still managed to finish sixth.
Animal Kingdom is one of a select band of horses bred by Team Valor, the initial owners, and was sold within the syndicate in 2009 at the Keeneland September yearling sale for $US100,000 (Dh367,000).
For those that bought him that day, that also looks a shrewd piece of business.