Frankel’s bloodlines are a personal achievement for Al Saud, Crum said. The billionaire, a cousin of Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah, has spent the past 30 years building and refining some of the world’s most successful racehorse lineages.

A white-socked, musclebound bay, Frankel is one of nine stallions at Juddmonte. He’s named after the late Bobby Frankel, the trainer who orchestrated many of Al Saud’s greatest victories in America, including the win in the 2003 Belmont Stakes with Empire Maker that denied a rival’s Triple Crown bid. As a stud, Frankel commands 125,000 pounds for every foal he sires. The rest have stud fees between $15,000 and $160,000.

By comparison, the stud fee of recent Triple Crown-winner American Pharaoh is expected to be around $75,000. Collectively the studs will “cover,” or mate with, about 750 mares per season, Crum said. While the stallions have considerable commercial value, Juddmonte’s band of 250 broodmares form the operation’s most prized asset.

Prized Collection

“In over 30 years, Prince Khalid has built up a collection of probably the greatest broodmares in the world,” Crum said.

Al Saud buys very few horses, meaning virtually all of Juddmonte’s champions, which have won at least 100 of the world’s most elite races, are bred by the billionaire.

His best mares, mothers of consistent winners, are valued at around $10 million each, according to Oppenheim, who suggests that the standard industry multiple for stallions is 300 times their stud fee. In-demand stallions typically service about 300 mares before their first foals begin racing and more than 1,500 over their lifetime. Should the first foals race well, a stallion’s stud fee can increase substantially.

Diverse Holdings

Al Saud first became interested in horse racing in the late 1970s after a visit to the Longchamp racetrack in Paris, Crum said. Enlisting the help of some of the industry’s best agents and trainers, he began to assemble his own stable. Today, his breeding farm has 300 employees and uses top trainers including last week’s Triple Crown-winner, Bob Baffert.

Eight Juddmonte horses are being sent to race at Royal Ascot this week under the billionaire’s trademark green, white and pink silks. They’ll be joined by 300,000 spectators, many clad in top hats and fascinators. The Champagne-sipping crowd will watch almost 400 of the world’s best racehorses vie for 5.5 million pounds in prize money.