They call it the greatest two minutes in sport, but a Kentucky Derby win is one that eludes many owners even after decades of trying. So, to win at the very first attempt might be considered a little audacious.
It wasn’t, of course, a first for Bob Baffert, Medina Spirit giving the silver-haired maestro a seventh win in the race. It was a fourth for popular jockey John Velazquez, who rode a perfectly judged race from the front.
The newbie was the horse’s owner, 46-year-old, U.S.-born Saudi Arabian philanthropist and businessman Amr Zedan. He started Zedan Racing just five years ago, and in that time has welcomed two G1 winners, Medina Spirit’s achievements having been preceded by those of Princess Noor, winner of the G1 Del Mar Debutante last September.
Married to Jordanian royalty – he named his star filly after his wife, Princess Noor Bint Asem – and the CEO of the hugely successful Zedan Group engineering consultancy, one would imagine he has a lot going on. Despite this, he’s approachable and happy to talk, conveying a genuine emotion in the wake of his biggest success to date.
“It’s just an amazing feeling – something that can’t be compressed into words in an interview. It’s out of this world,” he says, just a few days after receiving one of the most coveted trophies in sport ahead of a crowd of 51,000 at Churchill Downs.
“It’s really emotional, to sum it all up, but at the same time, as a parent, my boys are young, and my daughter … everyone is so proud of it. It’s the legacy that you’d like to leave. It’s intangible, something that you just can’t acquire, so that’s the first box. The second box, the crowd, the energy, is just tremendous, but to have a dream come true, review it, think it over and over and to see it turn into a reality, it’s just amazing.”
It’s a reality that might not have seemed likely when Medina Spirit was a somewhat lacklustre second behind Rock Your World in the Santa Anita Derby, a reverse that made him relatively unconsidered on the first Saturday in May.
Keeping the faith
Zedan always kept faith in his diminutive colt, who cost him just $35,000 at the Ocala July 2-year-old sale and who is named after his home town in Saudi. “We have a promising 3-year-old colt,” he told Arab News in February. “I know it’s a long shot, but my dream is to see him in the Derby.”
Now that the dream has come true, Zedan is keen to deflect any praise on to his horse and his trainer.
“If you really take a deep dive into his pedigree, it screams distance,” he says of the son of unheralded Giant’s Causeway stallion Protonico. “It really shows that a good horse can come from anywhere – a flashy pedigree or a not-so-flashy pedigree.
“Medina showed signs of ability even when we picked him up at the sale. In training, it took us a while to figure him out. We weren’t very sure if he was a closer or a leader, but he turned out to be more of a leader. He has a heart that is bigger than himself, he just refuses to let anyone pass him. He has the fire, and that’s what you need going into the Derby.”
Preakness prospects
So what of the Preakness next Saturday? At the moment the opposition seems thin, with Derby second, third and fourth, Mandaloun, Hot Rod Charlie and Essential Quality, skipping the race. It could again play to the strengths of a speed horse, but Zedan is far from greedy.
“It’s going to be tough. It’s very taxing on these horses. Two weeks later is not enough,” he says. “But that’s what separates the Triple Crown winners from the rest. I’m very happy that we have the Kentucky Derby, and anything beyond that is just the icing on the cake. We’re coming in as a champion, and if we get the Preakness, great, but if we don’t, then we don’t, but we’re going for it and Medina is going to give it his best.”
For a powerful man, Zedan comes across as extremely humble. He’s genuinely enjoying the ride with Zedan Racing, which he started five years ago, partly off the back of success in the polo sphere with Zedan Polo, of which he is player and patron.
“We started 20 years ago with Zedan Polo, taking in the circuit in Dubai and Europe,” he explains. “The natural progression was obviously racing.”
Watch again how Medina Spirit held off all comers at Churchill Downs
Although G1 wins with Princess Noor and Medina Spirit make it look as if success came immediately for the red, white and light blue silks, Zedan says he learned the hard way.
“I was always fascinated by the concept of horseracing and we sort of dabbled in it and were unsuccessful. Then an opportunity presented itself to become a part of California Chrome, just a few weeks before the Dubai World Cup. Sure enough, Chrome won and I thought, ‘this is easy. You buy a horse and he’s a Grade 1 winner.’ Little did I know at the time.
“It took a lot of mistakes and recalibrations and changes of strategy and here we are. It’s a function of working with the right people and having the right professionals in place. It was a graduation, I would say, from polo to racing.”
Zedan is chairman of the Saudi Polo Federation and has been instrumental in building up the sport there, including planning a new polo headquarters soon to come to Riyadh.
“I started playing polo kind of late, in my early 20s, but I was always fascinated by horses from a young age and I always knew that I wanted to do something with horses. But it was something I was in awe of. Polo was my entry into the equestrian space and after that racing.”
While maintaining a polo team and paying professional players is a costly enterprise, racing can at least offer a return, something that appeals to the businessman.
“There’s an interesting angle with racing. It’s not only a cost, per se, but there’s an investment angle,” he says. “If you have a good horse which does well, then there’s some handsome returns to be enjoyed there as well.”
Zedan has no plans to race horses domestically in Saudi, describing his operation as “strictly in North America, strictly in the U.S.”, but he does have the Middle East to thank for his success so far, a chance encounter with Bob Baffert at Dubai Airport having brought about the current association.
“We first met at Del Mar and then right after that at Dubai World Cup, then after those two meetings we kind of agreed to a strategy, and then everyone kind of did their own thing. Then coincidentally we bumped into each other in February 2020 at Dubai Airport when he was travelling to the Saudi Cup. We had a sit down and we started putting in all our dreams and aspirations and 15 months later, here we are. It’s surreal.”
‘Artist’ Baffert
He is full of admiration for the Hall Of Fame trainer, with whom he also has two unraced 2-year-olds, the $875,000 breeze-up purchase Lulos, a son of Candy Ride, plus Gun Runner colt Needmore Guns, who cost $1.7 million.
“If there’s one thing to say about Bob Baffert, he’s an artist,” he continues. “He is someone that just feels it. Nothing is mechanical with him and that’s very rare to see in someone who is as successful as Bob is. It’s not a coincidence that he has two Triple Crown winners, he’s a seven-time Derby winner. This man knows what he’s doing and I’m just so privileged and honored to call him a friend and obviously our trainer.
“I like to stay out of the decision-making process and keep out of the way. I let Bob make the big calls, although he usually consults me and we talk about it.”
The world of racing is increasingly an international one, so perhaps it is fitting that a U.S.-born Saudi businessman owns the winner of America’s greatest race. But, wherever they come from, there are few owners enjoying it more than Amr Zedan.