Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Istabraq was bred for the flat, being by the outstanding champion sire Sadler's Wells, who won the Irish 2,000 Guineas over 1 mile and also being three parts brother to an Epsom Derby winner, Secreto. Istabraq was tried unsuccessfully over a mile and failed to please his handlers and owner Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Shadwell Racing and a partner in his family's Godolphin Stables.