Osama Bin Laden’s family enters British racing: Terror chief’s relative buys 10 horses for £2.7million
Mohammed Saleh bin Laden, a member of the extended family of the al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, has bought ten yearlings to enter British racing next spring.
The 41-year-old, who is the nephew of Bakr Bin Laden, half-brother of Osama Bin Laden, bought the horses at Tattersalls Book 1 Sale, an annual event in Newmarket.
The wealthy businessman, chairman of Modern Building Leaders Ltd – a construction company based in Saudi Arabia – deals only in Arabian horses.
But until now, he bought them for show and not for racing.
The yearlings were the first to be bought through Bin Laden’s British-based company Salhia Stud, through which he paid £2.7 million for the horses.
The Saudi businessman’s website claims he got his passion for horses from his uncle, Sheikh Bakr bin Laden.
Osama Bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda, was disowned by his wealthy family in 1994
Mohammed Saleh bin Laden (pictured) is the nephew of the half-brother of Osama bin Laden
Bin Laden bought ten horses at Newmarket’s famous Tattersalls auction, buying horses that include the sister of Group 1 winner Barney Roy and a daughter of legendary racehorse Frankel
His new horses, which include the sister of Group 1 winner Barney Roy and a daughter of legendary racehorse Frankel, are expected to be trained in Britain, but a spokesperson said Bin Laden hasn’t decided on a trainer yet.
Hossam Alsaady, a director of Salhia Stud, represented Bin Laden at Newmarket, where famous faces such as Alan Brazil and Ossie Ardiles often appear alongside the world’s top trainers.
The Tattersalls Sales were established by Richard Tattersall in 1776 at Hyde Park Corner and have taken place in Newmarket since 1958.
READ MORE – Tattersalls auction generates sales of 2,000,000 ‘guineas’ in the first 15 minutes
The British-based successful racehorse selector and racing manager Richard Knight has been advising Bin Laden, according to Alsaady, who said they haven’t decided on a trainer as yet.
Alsaady told the Racing Post: ‘We are big in Arabian breeding but have never been in thoroughbreds before now.
‘We have invested and spent a lot on UK business and are involved in many areas of the UK, so we thought why not British racing too and let’s see what we can do.
‘It’s a long-term project. What we are doing is inspired by Juddmonte [the breeders set up by the late Prince Khaled bin Abdullah], who are Saudi, and I believe they started off with ten fillies and have grown to where they are now.’
Bin Laden’s company website for Al Salhia, based in North Abhur just outside the city of Jeddah, reads: ‘Mr. Mohammed Saleh Binladen has a strong professional history in the business of horses.
‘Since childhood, his passion for the horse was instilled by the gift of a horse from his uncle Sheikh Bakr Binladen.
‘Since that time it became the desire of Mr. Mohammed Saleh Binladen to collect choice examples of the Arabian horse from various parts of the world.’
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