Saudi Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, owner of Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem, a nephew of King Fahd and chairman of a Saudi publishing empire, died Monday of a heart attack at a hospital in Riyadh at the age of 44.
Associates of Prince Ahmed in Saudi Arabia and London mourned him as a popular figure and an unpretentious prince, according to AP. "On a personal level he was the kindest person I've ever seen -- he was a prince without the airs," said Khalid Al-Maeena, editor in chief of the Jiddah-based Arab News, one of about twenty publications owned by the late prince's Riyadh-based Saudi Research and Marketing Group.
In addition to War Emblem, the prince owned 2001 Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Point Given, as well as Spain, horse racing's all-time female money-winner. "I'm in shock," Bob Baffert, who trained War Emblem and Point Given for Salman, told the industry publication The Blood Horse. "When you go through a Triple Crown together you get really close. He was like family. His passion for horses was incredible--he lived and breathed them."
Last year, Prince Ahmed's elder brother, Prince Fahd, died of a heart attack. Ahmed is survived by a wife and four children. (Albawaba.com)
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