Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum back for another Melbourne Cup tilt

SHEIK Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has provided the Melbourne Cup runner-up three times but is still chasing his first winner.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 27: Craig Williams riding Cavalryman (r) gallops with Willing Foe during a trackwork session at Werribee Racecourse on October 27, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images)

IT is not the royal way to show raw excitement but you might just hear the words “here comes the cavalry’’ bellowing from the lips of a lord this week.

Actually that should read Cavalryman, one of two Melbourne Cup entrants owned by Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai.

Every year the Melbourne Cup proves two things — money can buy it and money can’t buy it.

Every time Lloyd Williams raises the Cup — he has done so four times — it is a victory for dollars and some sort of sense because he spends the big bucks then follows it up with forensic planning.

But just to prove that you need more than money, the Dubai ruler and the Cup’s richest man has the strike rate of zero wins from 19 attempts.

Lord knows he has come close.

His private trainer Saeed Bin Suroor has delivered the Cup runner-up three times, with Central Park (1999), Give The Slip (2001) and Crime Scene (2009).

Craig Williams sits aboard Cavalryman. Picture: Getty Images

But since Faithful Son ran seventh as a $7.50 pop as his first starter in the Cup in 1998 Godolphin has seen another 18 Cup wannabes come and go without snaring the major prize.

Sheik Mohammed may keep 100 new cars in his garage. He may have got into the Guinness Book of Records by splashing out $100 million on the world’s most expensive wedding to Princess Salama, which included the construction of a stadium for 20,000 guests.

But racing is not a game of Monopoly. The richest man doesn’t always win.

Maybe this year he will because bookmakers are keeping veteran Cavalryman and the highly rated Willing Foe respectfully safe at around the $20-$30 dollar mark.

“The Melbourne Cup means a lot,’’ Godolphin Racing manager and Darley Australia managing director Henry Plumtre said.

“It is a signature race with iconic status. It is the best two-mile staying race in the world and a race which Godolphin would love to win.

“We have ramped our domestic team with stayers from Europe like the horse Contributer, which won the Coogee Handicap. That’s a first for us.

Prince Phillip presents Sheik Mohammed his trophy after Rewilding’s win in the 2011 Prince Of Wales Stakes. Picture: AP

“Cavalryman is in the best form of his career this year and Willing Foe is a very talented horse. The stable has two very good chances. Godolphin has hit the crossbar a couple of times but has not been able to put the ball in the back of the net.’’

In an effort to break their drought, they have enlisted the help of an Australian jockey who shares their frustration. Craig Williams, who will take the ride on Cavalryman is one of Australia’s premier riders, but he has never saluted in the race that stops a nation.

“I haven’t won a Melbourne Cup, neither has Sheikh Mohammed or Saeed bin Suroor,” he said, noting Cavalryman had the form to become the first nine-year-old to win the Cup.

“My good golfing friend Vaughan Somers always says records are there to be broken.

“For me, I hope it’s going to be that.”

It will be Williams’ first ride for bin Suroor but he already understands the stable’s passion.

“They’re (Godolphin) definitely desperate. Everyone wants to win the Melbourne Cup,” Williams said.

“Sheikh Mohammed and Godolphin have won the biggest races around the world.

“The Melbourne Cup eludes them at this stage.

Craig Williams and Godolphin stable trainer Saeed bin Suroor. Picture: Getty Images

“Nothing would give me more pleasure than to win in the blue colours, especially when Godolpin races here in Australia, they’re part of Emirates who sponsor the Melbourne Cup.

“It would be my first, their first and I’m sure the sponsors would be happy.”

For Sheik Mohammed, the frustration of having nothing but a soggy doughnut to show for his Cup tries is accentuated by the fact that his brother, Sheik Hamdan has won two Cups with At Talaq and Jeune — with far less representation.

When Sheikh Mohammed was a boy he was taught how to read the desert sands and live in union with the creatures of that testing region.

No scorpion stung him, but he was bitten by something that stayed in his system for life — the racing bug.

His love of horses started when he used to ride to school and feed some of his lunch to his horse.

It has grown to the point to where he now owns one of the biggest stables in the world but Godolphin have had a modest year internationally and there are plenty of critics happy to name them underachievers who get far less bang for their buck than other stables.

In recent years in Europe Sheik Mohammed’s men have got into bidding wars which prompted rivals to leave with heads between their tails because you can’t beat a man with an oil well in his back yard.

But winning in the sale ring is one thing — winning on the track is where it counts.

Originally published as Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum back for another Melbourne Cup tilt