Another stellar year on the racecourse and in the sales ring has reinforced Dubawi's standing among the very best stallions in the world
Racing is all about the stories behind the headlines but sometime just the plain facts shout loudly for themselves.
Dubawi is the sire of 33 individual G1 winners. His tally of Group winners stands at 93. He is the sire of 16% Stakes winners to runners, 14% Stakes winners to foals and 10% Group winners to runners. For the third consecutive year, he is the world’s leading yearling sire by average, with 29 selling for an average of £751,000.
By any measure, he is one of the world’s greatest stallions, and a recap of his year to date makes for compelling reading.
Wild Illusion triumphs in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac, Dubawi's second consecutive winner of the race
Even by his own superlative standards, 2017 was another landmark year for Dubawi. Not only did he record his 30th individual G1 winner when Nezwaah won the Pretty Polly at the Curragh, he went on to add three further G1 winners to his tally.
Nezwaah’s breakthrough G1 win followed hard on the heels of that of her paternal half-brother Zarak, who won the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud on the same day for the Aga Khan.
On October 1, the G1 feat was repeated when both Mubtaahij, in the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita, and Godolphin homebred Wild Illusion in the Prix Marcel Boussac, struck at the highest level on the same day.
Dubawi also enjoyed a red-letter day on September 10, during a glorious September for the sire, when Bateel led home a G1 1-2-3 for him in the Prix Vermeille, heading Journey and Left Hand.
Other G1 highlights included Sobetsu’s dominate victory in the G1 Prix Saint-Alary, and the success of Almanaar in a G1 at Gulfstream Park in February. Dubawi also celebrated a successful Royal Ascot, siring three winners at the meeting headed by G2 Ribblesdale Stakes heroine Coronet, later G1-placed for owner-breeder Denford Stud, and Benbatl in the G3 Hampton Court Stakes.
A tally of 26 juvenile winners at a higher rate than any other European stallion, including a quartet of Stakes winners, promises that 2018 will continue in the same rich vein as this year.
The group are headed by Wild Illusion, who became her sire’s second consecutive winner of the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc day, following in the footsteps of Wuheida, who highlighted her class when winning the G1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar on Saturday.
Another daughter of Dubawi claimed Group glory in the autumn, with Anna Nerium, bred by the late Bob McCreery, triumphing in the G3 Dick Poole Stakes at Salisbury.
A day later, Glorious Journey made his own piece of history, becoming the first Stakes winner for HH Sheikha Al Jalila when triumphing in the G3 Prix la Rochette at Saint-Cloud.
The colt holds a Derby entry, as does Ghaiyyath, who landed the G3 Autumn Stakes on Future Champions’ Day in October. On the same card, Sheikha Al Jalila’s Graffiti Master finished third in the Listed Zetland Stakes.
Lot 222, a Dubawi colt out of 1,000 Guineas heroine Sky Lantern, purchased for 2,000,000gns at Tattersalls Book 1
Dubawi x Izzi Top sells for 2.6m gns at Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1
Dubawi’s 10th crop of yearlings arrived at the sales this autumn with some tall reputations to live up to, and once again, they exceeded expectations.
For the third consecutive year, Dubawi is the world’s leading yearling sire by average, with his 29 yearlings sold for an average of £751,000. That number includes no fewer than nine individual millionaires, two of whom breached the 2,000,000gns mark at Tattersalls. That pair were headed by the colt out of Izzi Top offered by Meon Valley Stud who was knocked down to Roger Varian on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid for 2.6m gns.
Not far behind was the first foal out of 1,000 Guineas heroine Sky Lantern, bred by the Keswick's Rockcliffe Stud, who was signed for at 2m gns by MV Magnier for a partnership that included Marcus Jooste’s Mayfair Speculators.
Other highlights included colts out of the Yoshida family's Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Danedream and the Duke Of Roxburghe's dual Guineas winner Attraction, who were purchased by Shadwell for 1.5m and 1.35m guineas respectively.
Amid an embarrassment of riches on offer during the autumn, another standout was the sole yearling by Dubawi offered at Arqana, a colt out of the G1 Falmouth Stakes winner Giofra and offered by Haras de la Perelle, purchased for €1.55m by Kerri Racliffe for Phoenix Thoroughbreds.
Dubawi's 2017 book
Again, the bare figures of Dubawi’s 2017 book speak volumes for themselves.
The 174 mares he covered this year numbered among them 43 G1 winners, 22 who were G1-placed, the dams of 26 top-flight winners, and siblings to 50 G1 performers.
Among the who’s who of blue-blooded mares to visit the court of Dubawi were such outstanding multiple G1 winners as Dar Re Mi, The Fugue, Goldikova and a hat-trick of Oaks heroines in Dancing Rain, Qualify and Talent. No fewer than four Guineas winners also visited, headed by the young mares Just The Judge and Pleascach.
Also of note is the dams of young Darley sires Charming Thought and Territories; Ribchester and Ultra, who both join the Darley roster in 2018; 2017 G1 winners Barney Roy, and Thunder Snow; top juveniles such as Shalaa and Wuheida; Classic winners Chicquita, Galileo Gold and Was; and outstanding fillies such as Legatissimo and Journey.
The siblings of outstanding performers are literally an A to Z of some of the best racehorses of modern times, ranging from a sibling to Derby hero Australia through to a half-sister to Breeders’ Cup Classic heroine Zenyatta.
Taranto, dam of young Darley sire Territories (pictured), was just one of the many standouts in Dubawi's book in 2017
