by Nigel PullenŠ
The quest to produce the ultimate racehorse has always been
every breeder's dream. Just occasionally we come tantalizingly
close with such paragons as Brigadier Gerard, Ribot, Sea
Bird II and Secretariat. Dubai Millennium may not have scaled
the lofty heights of this quartet, but he was certainly
on his way to entering racing pantheon when injury prematurely
ended his racing career last August. Now grass sickness
has cruelly robbed the breeding world of this superstar.
In a racing career lasting barely twenty minutes and just
10 races, Dubai Millennium ensured his name would long be
remembered. His tally of nine victories (including five
at G1 level) were gained by a total of 47.5 lengths, climaxed
by runaway wins in both Dubai World Cup and Prince of Wales's
Stakes by six lengths and eight lengths respectively. I
was fortunate to see him race in the flesh three times,
and he had near faultless confirmation and that presence
about him that all great horses seem to possess. It seems
Dubai Millennium was always destined for glory, since his
granddam was that marvellous broodmare Fall Aspen (by Pretense
- Change Water by Swaps - Portage by War Admiral). She was
no slouch on the racetrack numbering the Grade 1 Matron
Stakes amongst her eight victories, but it was as a broodmare
that she really excelled. All twelve of her thirteen foals
to race won races; eight at Group level, including 4 individual
G1 winners; Hamas, Northern Aspen, Fort Wood and Timber
County. Her daughters have also been responsible for such
G1 winners as Methaaf, Elnadim, Medaaly and of course Dubai
Millennium. As one would expect Fall Aspen's pedigree was
pretty special too. Her granddam Portage may have been just
an ordinary winner herself, but a glance at her pedigree
reveals she was 1x3 to the close genetic relatives War Admiral
and Angry Plume. War Admiral was by Man O'War (Fair Play/Rock
Sand) out of a mare by Sweep; the latter's own dam being
by Domino out of Belle Rose. This background was mirrored
in the mare Angry Plume. Her sire Mad Hatter was in fact
a three quarter relative to Man O'War, while her maternal
grandsire Pennant had Domino and Belle Rose occurring 3x2,
and was thus bred on similar lines to the dam of the aforementioned
Sweep. Portage produced Fall Aspen's dam Change Water in
1969 after being covered by Swaps the previous spring; a
mating which further reinforced Portage's genetic background.
Swaps's granddam Iron Maiden was by War Admiral out of a
mare by Teddy's son Sir Gallahad III; a perfect foil for
Portage herself, since she was by War Admiral out of a mare
by Teddy's son Case Ace. This 4f x 2f cross of War Admiral
in Change Water had added significance when you consider
that War Admiral's granddam Annette K was 4x4 to Quiver
and her seven-eighths relative Musket; and Swaps's maternal
grandsire Beau Pere was a son of Cinna (3f x 3f to Quiver).
When we come to Fall Aspen's own pedigree we find an even
more intense pattern. Her pedigree featured a 2m x 2f cross
of the mare Imitation with the stallion Swaps; an extremely
potent combination. Swaps's sire Khaled was a son of Hyperion
and traced back tail female to the mare Lady Brilliant (Sundridge/Ayrshire
cross); and his maternal grandsire Beau Pere was by Son-In-Law
out of a mare by Polymelus. This made Swaps a pretty close
genetic relative of Imitation. She was a daughter of Hyperion
out of a mare who provided further strains of Son-In-Law,
Hyperion's sire Gainsborough and Polymelus; plus Lady Brilliant's
three parts genetic relative Sun Worship. Just for good
measure Fall Aspen's sire Pretense added a daughter of Teddy,
to balance his two son strains in Change Water; together
with Hyperion's half brother Hunters Moon. All this made
Fall Aspen 3fx4m Hyperion, 5mx4mx5m Selene, 5mx5m Son-In-Law,
4mx6mx5m Gainsborough, 5fx7mx5m Teddy and 6fx6fx5fx6f to
Chaucer. In fact these duplicated ancestors forged their
own genetic links. Son-In-Law, Gainsborough and Teddy having
strong genetic ties with each other, while Chaucer's half
brother Harry Of Hereford was found as the sire of the second
dam of War Admiral (4x2 in Change Water). There is yet a
further twist in that Chaucer and Harry Of Hereford's granddam
Pilgrimage was actually found 3x4 in Selene's pedigree.
This strong Pilgrimage background was further reinforced
in Dubai Millennium's dam Colorado Dancer, a daughter of
Shareef Dancer (by Northern Dancer - Sweet Alliance). Northern
Dancer being 4mx6m Selene and Sweet Alliance 4fx4m to Pharamond
(another son of Selene) along with a strain of Challenger,
who was by Pilgrimage's grandson Swynford out of a mare
by Great Sport, himself a half brother to Selene's dam.
Dubai Millennium was a son of Seeking The Gold (by Mr Prospector
- Con Game by Buckpasser), and once again we find some further
fascinating genetic relationships. The first of these involves
Shareef Dancer's granddam Mrs Peterkin and Seeking The Gold's
dam Con Game. Mrs Peterkin was by Tom Fool out of a mare
by Challenger, both stallions having background strains
of Pilgrimage, and both stallions appearing prominently
in Con Game's pedigree, significantly via opposite sex strains.
Con Game also provided the mare Busanda, who in turn added
another variation of the War Admiral/Teddy cross, already
encountered twice in Change Water's pedigree. There was
an equally intriguing pattern linking Raise You, the dam
of Seeking The Gold's grandsire Raise A Native, and Dubai
Millennium's fourth dam Portage. Raise You's cross of Case
Ace and Man O'War being reversed in Portage; and whereas
Raise You's granddam was by Whisk Broom, Portage traced
back tail female to Whisk Broom's full sister Matinee. Perhaps
the lesson here is that Fall Aspen's success as a broodmare
could be due to her compatibility with two of the most dominant
sire lines around, namely those of Northern Dancer and Raise
a Native. The former being picked up via Fall Aspen's Pilgrimage/Teddy
background; and the latter courtesy of Portage's relationship
with Raise A Native's dam Raise You. Dubai Millennium covered
a total of 82 mares in his few months at stud. His legacy
will be about 70 foals born next spring, along with a host
of wonderful memories.
Copyright Nigel Pullen 2001.
