Aussie breeder takes on Dubai sheik over Arab
02.08.2008
KNOCKABOUT Tenterfield horse breeder with centuries-old connections to the thoroughbred industry has accused one of the world's richest men of galloping away with his family's legendary name.
Kev Darley, an archetypal Aussie battler, has accused Dubai sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum -- with the help of a federal government agency -- of swooping on the Darley brand.
And with typical Irish-Australian pugnacity, it's obvious that Mr Darley -- with his quick grin, a blacksmith's handshake and earthy language -- is not going to give up his proud family name without a fight.
``Whichever way they want it -- negotiated sensibly, Queensberry or bare knuckle -- I'm ready,'' Mr Darley said.
Unfortunately, it may well be his only hope to knock some sense into the argument.
The name Darley is the da Vinci of horse breeding, the Royal Doulton of racing, with The Darley Arabian being the trace-back sire for more than 98 per cent of the world's great thoroughbreds.
Sheik Maktoum, 58, the billionaire ruler of Dubai, is the world's most famous and influential racehorse owner-breeder, and earlier this year paid $500 million to buy the Ingham brothers' stud in the NSW Hunter Valley.
The genesis of this battle goes back three centuries to 1704, when Irish breeder Thomas Darley travelled to the ancient Syrian city of Aleppo and bought a majestic Arab colt for his father, Richard Darley of Aldby Park, near York in England.
A prized painting, the original of which is held by Mr Darley, was completed in 1706 by artist John Wootton, and copies adorn the walls of racing enthusiasts throughout the world.
In June 2006, the keeper of the Australian Stud Book, Michael Ford wrote in Racetrack magazine: ``Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus, and we petty men walk under his huge legs and peep about to find ourselves dishonourable graves.
``So wrote Shakespeare about Julius Caesar, but he could have been talking about the Darley Arabian, or even his 21st-generation descendent, Northern Dancer.
``Why is this line so dominant, and will it eventually be the only line that all horses trace back to? At present, 49 of the top 50 sires
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by earnings trace to the Darley Arabian, with Rubiton the lone Byerley Turk representative.''
Mr Darley is also miffed that IP Australia, the federal agency that handles trademark and patent registrations, allowed the sheik to register the Darley trademark on July 27, 2000, a business name it has used in Australia and internationally ever since.
Three months prior -- on April 17, 2000 -- Mr Darley applied for the trademark Darley. According to legal documents, Mr Darley states IP Australia advised that his ownership of the mark lapsed in July 2001 because he had not paid the renewal fee.
``I further applied for Trade Mark 10969768 on February 1, 2006 and it was opposed by Darley Stud Management Company Limited (the sheik's company),'' Mr Darley wrote in a submission this year to the Foreign Investment Review Board when he sought to have the trademark dispute resolved before the FIRB approved the sheik's purchase of the Ingham empire.
The Sheik's Darley Australia has engaged in a legal exchange that is headed for court and opposes Darley's application to register the trademark.
The documents show the sheik's legal team hired private detectives from Sydney to visit Mr Darley's Tenterfield property to ascertain the extent of his thoroughbred breeding.
According to Mr Darley, the private investigator visited the property on April 24, 2007, refused to introduce himself, declined an offer to look at broodmares at the back of the property, took photographs from the highway into the farm, spoke to a council officer and local stock agent and allegedly reported thatthere was little or no thoroughbred breeding going on at the property.
The investigator ``noted the absence of any relevant signage at the entrance of the property'', the documents claimed.
But in the yards outside were eight weanlings; lithe, frisky animals whose parentage includes current boom sires Costa Del Largo and Zabeel -- stallions commanding enormous six-figure service fees.
As Mr Darley digs through a leather briefcase, he passes out old photographs of his forebears and the newspaper cuttings telling of their racetrack exploits.
``I have been in the racing industry for more than 40 years,'' Mr Darley told The Weekend Australian.
``I have enclosed statutory declarations for IP Australia from jockeys who have ridden my horses, including famous names like Kevin Langby and Mel Schumaker.
``Right now, I have 48 mares at stallions all around the country preparing for the breeding season, and dozens of buyers from here to Perth and up to Rockhampton will attest to buying racehorses from me.
``My family has been involved in breeding and racing horses for 300 years, and one of my famous ancestors was Sir Frederick Darley, the former chief justice of NSW more than a century ago, a well-known racing and breeding man.
``There is no way a person should just be able to come in and take the family name of another person, and use it around the world for commercial gain -- and then preclude me from using my own family name in my business dealings.
``We are just the little people here, me and my son Tim, but our name is precious to us, just as it is to any other human being, including the sheik.
``He might be the richest person in the world, but it is not going to stop me defending what is mine, and what I am proud is mine -- my family.''
And to prove Darley's involvement with racing, the statutory declaration he has secured from leading industry figure Langby states: ``I have known Kevin Darley since our school days at Orange and am fully aware that he has had, and still has, thoroughbred horses for years, as an owner and a breeder.
``I am well aware of his name and its significance in racing and breeding. I was leading jockey in Sydney for a number of years and was stable jockey for the late TJSmith and other leading trainers.''
The legal process the two parties must follow in such disputes comes down to one side discrediting the claims of the other. The winner secures the right to the Darley name.
Mr Darley believes the process is flawed. He says sworn evidence in a normal court atmosphere and subjected to cross-examination should take precedence over surreptitious surveillance, through employing private investigators. The looming court battle is one he says he can't afford to lose.
