Sheikh's training facility on track for Darley Stable
Plans for an Arab sheikh's thoroughbred training track in Montmorenci are moving forward.
Darley Stable, owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, who is the prime minister and vice president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Dubai, closed the deal on 352 acres on Montmorenci Road on Dec. 30.
The training facility will feature a one-mile track, four 30- to 32-stall barns and two houses will be built on the property for the trainers.
The expansion was the focus of a presentation given Monday by Aiken Training Track treasurer Bernadette Clayton before the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce's Equine Steering Committee.
"I think Darley will be a wonderful asset to Aiken County," Clayton said.
Darley has 64 horses in training with Tim Jones at the Aiken Training Track and another 30 with Danny Moncada in Williston, Fla., at the Robert F. Scanlon Training Center. There should be between 120 to 130 horses being broken and trained at the facility once it begins operation, Clayton said.
The construction of the racetrack will be overseen and managed by the New York Racing Association's Joe King. Horsemen's Track and Equipment's President Steven Greene, who oversaw the installation of the new inner rail at the Aiken Training Track, will be the eyes for the construction of the racetrack, and local crews will be doing the work, Clayton said.
Darley Stable will be working with a Kentucky-based architect, who will design the structures to be built on the facility, allowing Darley USA President Jimmy Bell better access to the plans. The mechanical engineer is from Aiken County, Clayton said, and local crews will be doing the construction.
The facility will not have grooms quarters at this time because most of the employees who will be working at the facility are local residents, Clayton said.
The size of the facility will provide for ample turnout for the horses.
"That's the real story. They wanted a bigger operation (than the Aiken Training Track)," she said.
The project is not expected to be completed by the end of 2010.
"Putting the track in requires time, allowing the ground to settle and to compress and to make it right," Clayton said.
Kentucky-based Dennis Fencing is putting up fencing around the perimeter of the property. The company has done more than 200 miles of fencing over a nearly 30-year span for the Maktoum Family, who owns Darley. In addition to Darley at Jonabell Farm and Shadwell Farm, they've also done work for Rood and Riddle Equine Equine Hospital, Kentuckiana Farm and Raceland.
"There's 16,000 feet of perimeter fencing going up right now," Clayton said. "That will allow for a turf and jog course around the outside. They're leaving 98 percent of the wooded area intact, with trails cut. A local crew is doing the tree work."
After Darley's offer to purchase the Aiken Training Track was rejected by the Aiken Training Track's shareholders, a number of people from Aiken, including Darley trainer Tim Jones, assistant trainer Terry Houghton, Clayton and Lisa Hall, City of Aiken Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department and the Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum program supervisor, put together a presentation demonstrating the benefits of building a thoroughbred training facility in Aiken.
"This is where you want to start your 2-year-olds, this is where the history is," Clayton said. "Once they saw the presentation, and the benefits of the footing and the climate, they bought the 352 acres."
Darley Stable was the fourth leading owner by North American earnings in 2009, with 78 wins from 343 starts for earnings of $4,977,513.