Post by horseguy on Nov 15, 2015 16:37:26 GMT
Sheik Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani & First Devision of Qatar made it to the jump off at this year's Los Angeles Grand Prix.
If you watch some of the landings with such agile turns this horse accomplishes , it is clear that the Sheik has some bucks to spend on a horse. The FEI lists him owning six Grand Prix horses, four of which have accumulated Grand Prix points in the FEI standings. His family has a net worth of $800 million. He came in 5th at Los Angles.
I am posting this to demonstrate that Grand Prix is a money sport, but having been a fan for many decades, I have witnessed many very wealthy riders rise to the top level, but very few manage to last more than a year or at best a couple of years at the top of the sport.
The list is long of these well financed competitors. I remember a young woman from the Firestone tire family fortune come and go, the grandson of the Chairman of Mitsubishi who couldn't ride lick, and many like them in the past. Now we have Bruce Springsteen's ($300 million net worth), Lou Dobbs' and Michael Bloomberg's ($36.5 billion net worth -makes the sheik look like a pauper) daughters along with this young oil Sheik. Will they be there in a few years? If history is a predictor, probably not. Meanwhile, Beezie Madden and others who have come up from the bottom of the sport are still riding after many years and winning.
I like Sheik Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani's horse First Devision. By the FEI points, he is 3rd best horse. He jumps like my old hunt horse 17H Riley and moves like my best polo horse 15H Bunny. I sincerely wish the Sheik luck. He rides well.
If you watch some of the landings with such agile turns this horse accomplishes , it is clear that the Sheik has some bucks to spend on a horse. The FEI lists him owning six Grand Prix horses, four of which have accumulated Grand Prix points in the FEI standings. His family has a net worth of $800 million. He came in 5th at Los Angles.
I am posting this to demonstrate that Grand Prix is a money sport, but having been a fan for many decades, I have witnessed many very wealthy riders rise to the top level, but very few manage to last more than a year or at best a couple of years at the top of the sport.
The list is long of these well financed competitors. I remember a young woman from the Firestone tire family fortune come and go, the grandson of the Chairman of Mitsubishi who couldn't ride lick, and many like them in the past. Now we have Bruce Springsteen's ($300 million net worth), Lou Dobbs' and Michael Bloomberg's ($36.5 billion net worth -makes the sheik look like a pauper) daughters along with this young oil Sheik. Will they be there in a few years? If history is a predictor, probably not. Meanwhile, Beezie Madden and others who have come up from the bottom of the sport are still riding after many years and winning.
I like Sheik Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani's horse First Devision. By the FEI points, he is 3rd best horse. He jumps like my old hunt horse 17H Riley and moves like my best polo horse 15H Bunny. I sincerely wish the Sheik luck. He rides well.
