Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, has purchased 360 acres in South Carolina’s Aiken County through the Darley America arm of his Thoroughbred empire and eventually will operate a training facility on the property, according to a story on the Aiken Standard newspaper’s Web site (www.aikenstandard.com). The deal for the land closed Dec. 30.
Plans for the site include the construction of a one-mile dirt track, Darley America president Jimmy Bell told the Aiken Standard. According to the publication, the property is located near the community of Montmorenci and is approximately six miles from the Aiken Training Track, a well-known winter training center for Thoroughbreds.
Bell also said there were no immediate plans to sell the Aiken property that Darley bought from Robert and Janice McNair's Stonerside Stable in 2008. That land is located next to the Aiken Trainng Track and its facilities include two barns.