September 21st, 2008

Dubawi, was responsible for the topped priced filly at the SGA sale in Milan when his first-crop daughter out of Windy Britain, a Listed-winning mare by Mark Of Esteem, sold for €130,000 (A$226,000). This was the third best price of the day with the three top lots all having been consigned by SARL srl.  Prior to the SGA sale, Dubawi had 11 sell for an average of £86,279 (A$190,559). His top-selling yearling to date fetched £294,117 A$649,600).

August 4th, 2006

Tennessee Blaze, the dam of VRC Group I Australian Guineas winner Apache Cat, has been booked to visit triple Group One winner Dubawi (IRE), who is due to serve his freshman season at Darley’s property in the Hunter Valley this spring.

A daughter of Whiskey Road, Tennessee Blaze is the dam of seven named foals, five of them are winners, with Apache Cat her best performed. The winner of six races and just under $900,000 in prizemoney Apache Cat begans his spring campaign in the Listed Aurie’s Star Handicap down the famous straight-six course at Flemington today without his blinkers on and 59 kilos. Apache Cat finished third two lengths behind the well-weighted fit son of Danehill, Bel Danoro (ex Bislotto by Bellotto).

“We are delighted to accommodate such a great producer as Tennessee Blaze and her owner Paul Radford will also be sending Apache Cat’s half-sister Chocolate Ali to another of our young sires in Street Cry,” said Dean Harvey of Darley Victoria.

July 16th, 2006

Dubawi travels to Australia with some heavy luggage. On this first year horse, who will stand at Darley for $33,000, rests the responsibility of carrying on the legacy of his sire, the mighty Dubai Millennium.

By Seeking the Gold, best known in Australia as the sire of Secret Savings, out of Colorado Dancer, a group-winning daughter of the great mare, Fall Aspen, Dubai Millennium was everything that might have been hoped for from this pedigree. 

Dubai Millennium won two minor events from two starts at two, but confirmed he was a horse with classic potential when taking the Predominate Stakes on his three-year-old debut. Dubai Millennium did finish unplaced in the Derby (G1), for which he started favorite, failing to stay after racing very freely, but that was the last time he tasted defeat. His only other three-year-old outings saw him captured the Prix Eugene Adam (G2), the Prix Jacques Le Marois (G1) and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1). It’s worth noting that he took those races – the final two of which were against older horses – by a total of nearly 12 lengths.

Wintering in Dubai, Dubai Millennium cantered home in the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Challenge (Round 3) on his reappearance, the turned the Dubai World Cup (G1) into an exhibition, scoring by six lengths from the top-class American runner, Behrens, with the third horse nearly 12 lengths behind. Dubai Millennium closed out his career in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot. Remarkably, he actually started as second favourite, the crowd preferring the Aga Khan’s crack miler, Sendawar. If the betting was close, the race certainly wasn’t: taking the lead from the start, Dubai Millennium simply ran Sendawar into the ground, and when that opponent cracked, Dubai Millennium simply strolled home eight lengths clear of the German challenger, Sumitas.

Of course, Dubai Millennium’s stud career was eagerly anticipated, but during his first season, he was struck down by grass sickness, a mysterious ailment that paralyzes the nervous system and closes down movement through the intestines. He died on April 29, 2001, leaving behind just one crop.

Dubawi was the first of his sire’s offspring to reach the racecourse, and scored on his debut, taking a six-furlong two-year-old maiden at Goodwood. Next out, Dubawi captured the seven furlong Superlative Stakes (G3), with Wilko, destined to take that year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) back in third. Dubawi’s first season ended with a three lengths triumph in the National Stakes (G1), also at seven furlongs. Dubawi’s three-year-old debut came in the 2,000 Guineas (G1). He started favorite for the first classic, but finished fifth, beaten two lengths by Footstepsinthesand. Subsequently, it was reported that Dubawi had been struck into in the course of the race. Redemption was not long in coming. In the Irish 2,000 Guineas (G1), he scored by two lengths from Oratorio, who had finished just in front of him in the 2,000 Guineas (G1).

Dubawi had shown so much speed at this stage in his career, that there had to be a doubt as to whether he could last out the 12 furlongs of the Derby (G1). Those doubts came to fruition, but not until Dubawi had made a bold bid. Tracking the leaders, he moved into second a furlong from home, but then tired to finish third. Back at a mile, for the Prix Jacques Le Marois (G1), and tackling older horses for the first time, Dubawi showed his true mettle. In a fairly-slowly run race, he had too much speed for his opposition, sprinting home 1½ lengths clear of the previous year’s winner, Whipper, with group one winner Valixir third, and the previously undefeated dual classic winner Divine Proportions fourth. Dubawi ended his career in another group one mile event, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1). He did his best to emulate his sire’s victory in this event, but just could not get past Starcraft, who held him at bay by three-quarters of a length.

Dubawi is the best of the 33 starters to represent Dubai Millennium to date, but he is joined as a black-type winner for his sire by French listed winners Antique and Thousand Islands. The distaff side of Dubawi’s pedigree is an impressive one. His dam, Zomaradah (by the Shirley Heights horse, Deploy) won the Italian Oaks (G1), as well as three other group and graded events in Italy, Ireland and North America. 

Dubawi’s grandam, Jawaher, is a Dancing Brave half-sister to the English Derby (G1) winner High Rise (also by a son of Shirley Heights, so bred along similar lines to Dubawi’s dam).

Dubawi’s third dam, High Tern, is a half-sister to High Hawk (a Shirley Heights daughter), a top-class mare whose victories included the Premio Roma (G1), and who is also dam of the excellent stallion, In the Wings.

From the Mr. Prospector line, Dubai Millennium has Mr. Prospector’s sire, Raise a Native 4 x 5, and Northern Dancer at the same distance. The Northern Dancer inbreeding is of particular interest as it comes through Shareef Dancer (the broodmare sire of Dubai Millennium) and Dancing Brave, both Northern Dancer/Sir Gaylord crosses, with the Sir Gaylord through the genetic relatives Sir Ivor and Drone.

The Northern Dancer is going to be far enough back in the pedigree of Dubawi to encourage breeding him back over Northern Dancer line mares. There are some particularly interesting potential variations on a theme that could be achieved here. For example, Green Desert and his sons would bring in third Northern Dancer/Sir Gaylord cross, as does Bluebird; Redoute’s Choice does the same thing through his female line (which could also be brought in through Hurricane Sky). 

Dubawi should also be very interesting over Sadler’s Wells line mares, with Scenic giving inbreeding to the family of Deploy (through the excellent mare Where You Lead), and Singspiel being by In the Wings, who is from Dubawi’s own family. Last Tycoon is another member of the Northern Dancer tribe who could be very interesting here. Any of the Danehill line will give a half-sister to Northern Dancer, as well as line breeding to Buckpasser, and Nijinsky II should be good here, with Royal Academy being very appealing. Dubai Millennium’s sire, Seeking the Gold, has 
also had a particularly good relationship with Storm Cat (who is out of a mare by Sir Gayord’s half-brother, Secretariat). 

With Seeking the Gold having two 2006 grade one winners out of Deputy Minister mares, also consider Dehere, another out of a mare by Secretariat.

Doubling up on Sir Ivor, via Sir Tristram and sons is another very viable alternative. Halo is a genetic relative to Sir Ivor and Drone (the Sir Gaylord sources in Dubawi), and he could be brought in through Don’t Say Halo, and through More Than Ready, who gives the three-quarters related Seeking the Gold and Woodman. It could also be a daring experiment to try Dubawi over mares by Woodman, or by Umatilla (by Miswaki, a three-quarters relative to Seeking the Gold, out of a mare bred on the Northern Dancer/Sir Gaylord cross).

There are some other interesting experiments available here. Timber Country (by Woodman!), Charnood Forest, Hamas and Bianconi (three-parts-brothers to the dam of Dubai Millennium) and Elnadim, are all from the female line of Dubai Millennium. Charnwood Forest is particularly intriguing, as he is by Warning, a half-brother to Deploy, the broodmare sire of Dubawi.