King Edward VII described Glorious Goodwood as a “garden party with racing tacked on”.

Sheikh Mohammed first experienced its seductive delights 40 years ago when Hatta won the Molecomb Stakes having previously won on her debut 30 miles up the A280 at Brighton.

“Hatta was my first horse. People were surprised when she beat the favourite at Brighton. We have moved forward and we are really enjoying it,” the sheikh said recently.

That Godolphin, the stable which is the sheikh’s brainchild, will be competing at what is now named the Qatar Goodwood Festival this week might come as a surprise. The Gulf states have been engaged in a fierce dispute for months Qatar, accused of supporting terrorism, at the centre.

The racing authorities in Britain have not distanced themselves from 
a country whose overall patronage in terms of prize money alone is calculated to be worth over £8m per year.

Sheikh Mohammed, in his capacity as prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ruler of Dubai, might be expected to distance himself from association with Qatar, especially given that publishing “expressions of sympathy” for Qatar within the UAE can carry a 15-year prison sentence, but Godolphin will have runners at Goodwood.

Sympathy for the sheikh’s position might be in short supply but he finds himself short of options – and knows to his cost that his last stand went about as well Custer’s when he took on the Coolmore Stud.

Qatar has become a major sponsor since Qatar Investments & Projects Development Holding (Qipco) began backing the Guineas meeting at Newmarket in 2011 when they also became title sponsor of the British Champion Series, the promotional vehicle for the most prestigious Flat races run in Britain.

In 2014 Qipco became Ascot’s first official partner at Royal Ascot in addition to supporting the British Champions Day meeting, the richest raceday in Britain worth over £4m. 

The company also funds the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and the Qatar Goodwood Festival and brings in around £2m a year to British racing’s coffers. In France Qatar sponsors the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Qipco is the backer of the Prix du Jockey Club and counts the Irish Champion Stakes among its portfolio.

Sheikh Mohammed simply cannot afford to eschew so many of Europe’s high-profile races although he maintained a low profile during Royal Ascot, sending other members of his entourage to accept trophies for each of Godolphin’s six winners.

Godolphin’s spokesman would not be drawn on whether the sheikh will take a similar approach at Goodwood but this more diplomatic stance is in contrast to 20 years ago when he publically forswore purchasing yearlings sired by Coolmore Stud stallions because the Coolmore owners did not reciprocate with the sheikh’s Darley Stud progeny.

It was a decision that left John Magnier, the powerbroker at the head of the Coolmore empire, unmoved given that Coolmore had the champion sire in Sadler’s Wells. That hegemony has continued to this day, with Galileo now at the pinnacle, and Darley still playing catch-up.

“In life there is no winning post,” Sheikh Mohammed once said. “You have to keep going otherwise the rest will catch up with you.”

He might be hoping that the reality of the wider world does not catch up with Goodwood’s garden party.