Godolphin divides its operation between two trainers

The Godolphin racing operation will split its string between two trainers in Newmarket this season, with Mahmood Al Zarooni, an assistant to Saeed bin Suroor at Godolphin Stables for just over a year, taking charge of a significant number of horses at Moulton Paddocks, a mile from the middle of town on the Bury Road. Al Zarooni, 33, will saddle his first runners at the Dubai World Cup meeting at Meydan racecourse on Saturday, including Eastern Anthem, who will attempt to win the Group One Dubai Sheema Classic for the second year running. Simon Crisford, Godolphin's racing manager, said today that Bin Suroor, Godolphin's principal trainer for nearly 15 years, fully supported the move. "The situation is that last year Saeed had more than 200 horses and we've got a few more horses to come in," Crisford said. "We didn't want him to have more horses, and he didn't want to have more, so the time was right. Mahmood has been Saeed's assistant for a year and he will be a great asset to the team. "We've got two separate stables both in Newmarket and here in Dubai. It's necessary to share the workload with two trainers because we've got the numbers to justify that. "Mahmood will probably have a few more two-year-olds than older horses, but that allocation will take place when the horses come in, with Sheikh Mohammed deciding what goes where. "Sheikh Mohammed has always had more than one trainer anyway, and Godolphin used to have David Loder [based in France], so this isn't that different to that, but often there will be occasions when both have a runner in the same race. "Our jockeys can ride for both stables, but primarily Frankie [Dettori] will ride for Saeed and Ahmed [Ajtebi] will ride for Mahmood. They will flip-flop a bit between stables, and there are no retainers, but that is mainly how it will work. "Numbers-wise it won't be that different to last year, but the workload does need to be spread. Two hundred horses is enough for Saeed, and that was his decision as much as anyone else's. He felt that it was too many, and we all felt that it was necessary to spread the load."