Amr Zedan Takes Quick Route to the Derby

While the focus of Medina Spirit's 12-1 score in the May 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) was on trainer Bob Baffert's seventh win in the Run for the Roses, it was a surprise win for Zedan Racing Stables, a relative newcomer to the sport. Zedan Racing Stables is the nom de course of Saudi Arabian businessman and philanthropist Amr bin Fareed bin Mohammed bin Zedan. A horse enthusiast, Zedan is an international polo player who jumped into ownership in 2016. "Fifteen months ago we met in the Dubai airport and this was the plan, and here we are," Zedan said immediately after the race. "To Bob it's not a job; it's art. He's a Picasso or a Michaelango." "I was in the Dubai airport and I heard a 'Hey Bob,' and it was him," Baffert said. "We talked for two hours. He was thinking of getting back in to ownership. He said, 'Maybe we'll get together and win the Derby.' And I said, 'Yeah, right.' He hooks up with (bloodstock agent) Gary Young and Frank Taylor at Taylor Made, and those are top guys. It's a Cinderella story." Zedan met Taylor Made Farm's Frank Taylor in Dubai. "I went to Dubai with my family for California Chrome's second Dubai World Cup (Sponsored by Emirates Airline, G1, in March 2016) and I went to a polo match and met Amr," Taylor said. "I asked him to come out and watch Chrome train. We watched him and then I asked a few days later if he wanted to buy a piece of the horse, and I sold him one of our shares. California Chrome won the Dubai World Cup three days later." Taylor noted Zedan went with bloodstock agent Dennis O'Neill in the U.S. and he would call Taylor for advice from time to time. He exited racing, but then came that fateful meeting in the Dubai airport. "We were sitting in the lounge and I said, 'Bob I want to win the Kentucky Derby.' Fifteen months later, we won the Kentucky Derby. With Bob, you are just witnessing art in motion." With agent Gary Young, Zedan has purchased other runners, including Princess Noor, who is named for his wife, Princess Noor bint Asem. "We bought Princess Noor. She won a grade 1. Every horse we buy, Gary picks and buys, and Bob checks it out. She was an expensive filly. Bob texted me and said, 'I'm going to make her worth this much,' and guess what? He did." At last year's Ocala Breeders' Sales' June Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, Young went to $1.35 million to purchase Princess Noor for Zedan. By September, the daughter of Not This Time delivered, taking the Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1) and later added the Chandelier Stakes (G2). Favorite for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), she ran fifth, then was pulled up in the Dec. 5 Starlet Stakes (G1) at Los Alamitos. She has since been retired and was bred to Into Mischief. She resides at Taylor Made.