John Ferguson stepped down as the CEO and racing manager of horseracing stable Godolphin after "appearing to lose a power struggle with Saeed bin Suroor, one of its principal trainers," according to Paddy von Behr of the LONDON TIMES. Ferguson announced the decision "in light of an interview with Bin Suroor that appeared on the Racing Post website last week," in which the Newmarket trainer "spoke freely about tensions at the top of Sheikh Mohammed’s global racing operation." Ferguson: "Now Sheikh Mohammed makes the decisions at Stanley House, nobody else." It all "appeared to amount to an ultimatum from Bin Suroor." A week later, Ferguson "had fallen on his sword." He said in a statement, "Given the recent articles in the media, it was clear my position was untenable" (LONDON TIMES, 6/6). In London, Chris Cook reported Ferguson, who has worked for Sheikh Mohammed in various roles for 25 years, took over as CEO in Dec. '15 with instructions to give Godolphin "a kick in the belly" but now "appears a victim" of Bin Suroor's "dissatisfaction." The trainer "was unhappy" about being instructed to use jockey James Doyle last year and believes the collection of two-year-olds he was sent this year "compared poorly" with those sent to Godolphin's other Newmarket trainer, Charlie Appleby, whose assistant is Ferguson's son, James. Godolphin announced that Joe Osborne, the current managing director of Godolphin in Ireland, will be the interim CEO (GUARDIAN, 6/6).
COMPLETE BREAKDOWN: RACING POST's Lee Mottershead reported the rumor heard on racecourses "is the relationship between Godolphin's senior trainer and Godolphin's senior executive has completely broken down." Ferguson "seemingly has little direct input into plans for the horses trained by Bin Suroor." Tension at the top of high-profile organizations is "not unusual." What is "extraordinary" is that Bin Suroor is "so willing to make that tension public and sufficiently confident" in his own relationship with Sheikh Mohammed to do so. Godolphin "was built on a team ethos." The organization has evolved in recent years, "so it much more reflects the days of old when horses raced for many different yards" in the name of Sheikh Mohammed (RACING POST, 6/4).
