The entrance to the Darley offices at Dalham Hall Stud, Newmarket
The most prestigious thoroughbred breeding stud in England has a relatively unpretentious entrance. You could easily drive past the gateway in almost suburban Newmarket in Suffolk if it were not for a red sign which simply reads ' Darley'
Unpretentious is probably not a word you would generally associate with the world of thoroughbred breeding and the racehorse industry, especially as Dalham Hall Stud, the UK headquarters of Darley is owned by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE Vice President and the Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.
Certainly it becomes obvious as you drive through the gateway of Dalham Hall Stud that, although not pretentious, this is something special. We are met by a chatty gatekeeper who tells us how to get to the main reception area to meet our host Ray, the Farm Manager and he waves us cheerily through the main gates. Either side of the road which runs through the stud are beautifully manicured paddocks as we approach a stylishly modern office building and park in the Visitor's Carpark, noting that we are the only car there. This is evidently no place for coach tours or casual visitors and we are suddenly a tad nervous that our invitation may be based on an assumption that we're a bit more important in racing circles (or in fact any circles) than we actually are.
The 'cheeky and intelligent' Dubawi
Our concern is quickly quelled by Ray who has a firm handshake, incredible knowledge of the stud and no idea about how to let the handbrake off the new Mercedes people-mover we are to travel in. After a few moments of group deliberation and manipulation of various levers and knobs he finally finds the offending handbrake and we're off to the breeding barn where the prize stallions are kept. As it is only two minutes by car it hardly seems worth the effort of working out how to release the brake and the nervousness returns when we find that they have gone to all the effort of presenting two of their stallions, one of which, Dubawi is arguably the best young sire in the world. Even between the five of us we probably couldn't afford his stud fee.
The 21 year old stallion Halling (note the rubberised walkways around the stabling)
Dubawi and his older, stately stable companion Halling are presented and we dutifully and enjoyably inspect them and chat with their handlers. Again the friendliness and knowledge of the staff shines through and the stables are stunning. They tell us about the horses' personalities, with Dubawi's handler fondly confiding that his charge is a ' cheeky and intelligent' stallion and adding ' I always have to be one step ahead of him'.
At 15.3hh and quite chunky in build, he is not exactly what I imagined the top young thoroughbred sire to look like but in his eye you can see the intelligence and determination that no doubt helped him to win three races from three starts as a two year old and two wins, a second and third from five starts as a three year old. As a colt by Dubai Millennium he is treasured and is more than proving his worth as a sire.
Dubawi's pedigree - each of the stallions have their pedigree displayed on the wall inside their stable
After a little while Ray chivvies us back to the car and we assume that our visit is over. Far from it.
We are now treated to a tour of the stud's farms and the need for the transport becomes apparent. Although we entered through a large gateway we now negotiate road systems within individual properties and navigate from farm to farm via back roads and unassuming gateways with automatic security. This is a stud and farming community of epic proportions but, despite covering 4,700 acres, it has lost none of its English rural charm. The stud was started in 1981 when Sheikh Mohammed purchased Dalham Hall and since then various surrounding farms have been added. Sheikh Mohammed, who studied at nearby Cambridge University, obviously has an affinity with and appreciation of this area and it is pleasantly reflected in the feel and function of Darley at Newmarket.
The stables at Dalham Hall Stud retain the traditional feel
As we drive through some of the farms Ray points out their various features and functions; some grow the hay required, some manage the cattle and sheep which feed the farm staff, one has a manure management system where a huge machine constantly tramples and wets the stud manure into fertilizer ready to go directly back onto the land. Another of the farms, Badlingham Manor, operates the Darley Thoroughbred Rehoming Program. As we all know, not all thoroughbreds make top class racehorses plus Darley produces cross bred horses from its ' nanny mares ' which are used during the fowling season. These horses are looked after and trained at Badlingham until good homes can be found for them, often as hunters or general riding horses.
Some of the other farms have been dedicated to Sheikh Mohammed's other equestrian passion - endurance riding, in which he participates and competes at international level with great success. Several teams were staying as we drove through and we caught sight of the grooms attending their horses (each Endurance horse has its own personal groom so 80 horses on the property means also 80 grooms). Sadly the only farm we couldn't visit was that which was hosting the Saudi Arabian show jumping team preparing for the Olympics.
Favourite horses are laid to rest at Dalham Hall Stud
As with many large farms and estates in England, the cottages around the farm are often owned by or 'tied' to it and therefore the villages around are associated with or managed by Darley, providing homes for farm or stud workers and visiting grooms or other staff. It is a world of its own but one which still reflects how farming communities in England have operated for years. The Darley properties are beautifully kept and maintained (apparently with only four gardeners - I wish I had one of them) and they undoubtedly provide employment and economic benefit to the Newmarket area
Having popped into Newmarket to grab a coffee before visiting Darley it became obvious that the locals hold the stud in high regard. Asked if we had come to Newmarket to visit the National Racing Museum, I replied that no, we were visiting Darley. There was a slight hesitation as the coffee maker looked me up and down (obviously not usual to serve take away coffee to a Darley visitor) who then commented "Well, you don't get any better than that"
I think he may be right
