WHEN we heard the sad news of Sheikh Hamdan’s passing this week, the Derrinstown Stud team were left feeling very numb as he was such an incredible man to work for.

Sheikh Hamdan purchased Derrinstown in 1982 and I started here in 1984, arriving the same day as the stallion Wassl. Over the next 35 years the estate mushroomed to 11 farms, all in the Maynooth-Celbridge area except Lumville Stud located outside Edenderry. He owned 2,000 acres and employed 110 people.

Many of the current employees have been here all throughout that programme of buying, building, and restructuring the farms. From the development of the farms, the matings, and every other important aspect, both here and in Shadwell in England Sheikh Hamdan personally was involved in every decision.

It is incredible that he had the time and energy for it all, given his huge commitments in Dubai. But he was “passionate” about the thoroughbred – that is probably the best word to describe him. That passion permeated through the whole organisation.

Irish visits

Sheikh Hamdan would usually visit us three times a year – in April to inspect the yearlings, in late August and then late September or early October for the Orby Sale.

He believed you could learn more about a horse’s conformation, temperament, and gait as they developed from the foal to the yearling stage. He seemed to be able to form a picture at that point in time about how that horse would eventually look in training.

You could show him six or eight weanlings and, a year later, he would recognise them individually again as mature yearlings. He had extraordinary recall and retained information on pedigrees like an encyclopaedia. In fact, I would say Sheikh Hamdan was probably the most amazing horseman I have ever met.

He was a great employer, loyal to those who worked for him and friend to us all. He got to know all the staff on his farm visits. His first greeting was always “What’s news?” and then he would ask about your family. He was interested in people and their opinions. He was very compassionate, kind, and generous, looked after his staff very well, and they very much looked forward to his visits.

Seeing a fantastic piece of work on the gallops would really excite him, or the arrival of a well-bred foal, and of course the thrill of winning a Group 1 race. That was the ultimate dream. All these things were honed in him by his father, Sheikh Rashid, who was a huge influence on his life.

We were so lucky to know him and to work for him. Our loss is great, but the wider bloodstock industry will miss him too. He was so generous to Irish racing and breeding, buying so many horses over the years.

Luck money

He loved attending the Orby Sale, where he bought superstars such as Marju and Bethrah. One year he bought a yearling from Ennistown Stud and was puzzled when Leo Collins gave him £50 luck money. Nobody had ever done that for him before and he had the note framed as a memento of the occasion; he enjoyed recounting the story over the years.

That’s a good example of why he loved Ireland so much. He could relax here. Although he came across as outgoing, he was a little bit shy as well. In Ireland, he enjoyed being away from the hustle and bustle of a busy life.

He enjoyed his visits to the farm, and we enjoyed them too. We would do anything for him. He was a huge influence in all our lives, it was an honour to work for him and it was a very sad day when we learned of his passing. But we also celebrate a life well lived. You don’t get many like him, he was one in million.