Horse racing: Prolific Darley stallion Dubawi makes history for Godolphin
Becomes the first British horse to sire 200 Stakes winners with Philomene success
When the Godolphin-owned Philomene won the Group 3 Prix Penelope at St-Cloud Racecourse in France earlier this week, little did his jockey, Mickael Barzalona, know that the pair were making racing history as the first British horse to sire 200 Stakes winners.
The half-sister to Darley Irish Oaks (G1) heroine Chicquita and Group 1 scorer Magic Wand, provided Dubawi, one of the most successful British stallions in history, with a landmark 200th winner.
Dubawi was bred in Ireland at Darley Stud, the breeding operation owned by His Highness sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. He was one of the only crop of foals sired by Dubai Millennium, Sheikh Mohammed’s favourite racehorse who died of grass sickness in 2001.
Out of Prudenzia, a listed-winning daughter of Dansili, Philomene was acquired by Godolphin for €1,625,000 at Arqana’s August Sale in 2019.
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A comfortable winner on debut at Longchamp ijn Paris last September, the unbeaten filly was bred by Ecurie Des Monceaux and Skymarc Farm, who each own a 25 per cent share of the promising three-year-old that races in Godolphin’s famous royal blue silks.
A son of the great Dubai Millennium sensational winner of the 2000 Dubai World Cup at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in Dubai, Dubawi was retired to Dalham Hall in 2006 and has sired 44 individual Group 1 winners among 130 individual Group race winners.
Dubawi also sired last year’s world champion Ghaiyyath — who is standing his first season at Darley’s Kildangan Stud — and last month’s Dubai Turf (G1) victor Lord North.
Other outstanding young stallions sired by Dubawi include 2014 2000 Guineas scorer Night Of Thunder, and the prolific Postponed, winner of the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in 2015 who enjoyed an epic 2016 season where he captured the Dubai City of Gold, Dubai Sheema Classic, Coronation Cup and Juddmonte International Stakes.
Dubawi is also a successful broodmare sire, with Sand Vixen — his first ever stakes winner — delivering Dream Castle who won the Jebel Hatta (G1) at Meydan in 2019.
According to the Darley website, Dubawi’s statistics confirm his position as one of the world’s pre-eminent sires, with an exceptional 16 per cent Stakes winners and 10 per cent Group winners to runners — a higher percentage than any other stallion at the same stage of their careers.