imperial emperor
Based with UAE Champion Trainer Bhupat Seemar, Imperial Emperor is an exciting five-year-old son of Dubawi whom we sourced at the Racing In Dubai Sale. Bred by Godolphin and trained by Charlie Appleby earlier in his career, he has demonstrated talent from day one and still retains star potential.
He is a full-brother to the Listed-placed First Ruler and out of the top-class Zhukova, who won the Gr.1 Man O’War Stakes by six lengths. Zhukova is a half-sister to the four-time Gr.1 winner and outstanding champion Ghaiyyath, who also reached his peak at the age of five, and out of Nightime, who gave Galileo his first Classic winner as sire when winning the Gr.1 Irish 1,000 Guineas in 2006.
Imperial Emperor was installed as second favourite for the Derby after winning impressively on debut over 1m at Newmarket on his only outing as a juvenile and made a winning comeback at three. He performed creditably in two more British starts in 2023, notably the Listed Sir Henry Cecil Stakes, before shipping to Dubai for the winter.
Still owned by Godolphin when making his Emirates debut in a hotly contested 1m1f turf handicap last January, Imperial Emperor travelled strongly in the slipstream of the leaders and quickened to the front inside the final quarter of a mile, only to tire late on and finish third.
He was soon roughed off for the season and had joined Deva Racing by the time he lined up in a 0-105 handicap over 1m on the Meydan dirt in November 2024. Ridden by multiple UAE champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea, Imperial Emperor did well to overcome a wide draw and win comfortably. Raised to a mark of 100 following that victory, he then blitzed to a seven-and-half-length win over the same course and distance in mid-December, coming close to lowering the track record and earning a Racing Post Rating of 112.
Two such impressive victories have inevitably earned Imperial Emperor a step up in grade. The plan now is to run him in the $1 Million Gr.1 Al Maktoum Mile on the 24th of January at Meydan, and if he were to win there, he automatically gains entry to the Gr.1 Dubai World Cup in March, which has $7 million on offer to the winner. Our shareholders are on the ride of their life with this hugely exciting horse; let’s hope his winning run can continue!