by Nigel Pullen©

The showpiece race at this years' Dubai World Cup meeting, held at Nad Al Sheba, may have lacked the big name star of recent years, but the supporting cast of a leading thoroughbreds from across the globe certainly provided a rich spectacle in the six fiercely contested Group races.

The action began with the local Godolphin's stable representative, China Visit, aiming to re-establish his reputation in the Godolphin Mile, a Group 3 race on dirt. However, he never reached a challenging position, and although running on late to finish fourth, never threatened his stable companion, all the way winner Festival of Light. The latter had won his two previous outing in Dubai over six furlongs, but saw the mile out well today, holding off Curule by three quarters of a length.

Festival of Light 1997 is a son of Belmont Stakes and Breeders Cup Classic winner A P Indy out of the mare Aurora, herself a three quarter sister to the top sprinter and sire Green Desert. It is worth noting that Green Desert's maternal grandsire Sir Ivor, although absent in the pedigree of Festival Light, does have a close genetic relative in the mare Lassie Dear, who happens to be the granddam of none other than A.P. Indy.

Sir Ivor was by Sir Gaylord out of Attica by Mr Trouble (by Mahmoud) out of Athenia. This background of Sir Gaylord, Mahmoud and Athenia is reflected in Lassie Dear, who descended tail male from Menow (a three quarter brother to Athenia), and had Sir Gaylord and My Babu (maternal grandsire Badruddin a three quarter sister to Mahmoud) as sires of her first and second dam respectively. This strain of My Babu is also important in that it helps link the pedigrees of both Festival of Light's sire and dam, who descend from similarly bred mares.

Festival of Light's third dam, Courtly Dee, was a daughter of Never Bend out of a War Admiral mare; giving her a genetic heritage very like that of A P Indy's own granddam Lassie Dear. The latter's pedigree again featured War Admiral, but this time in combination with Never Bend's close genetic relative My Babu. Never Bend and My Babu each had strains of Djebel, Pharos and either Mumtaz Begum or her three quarter brother Badruddin. Both are well worth combining in pedigrees, and have a trio of other close relatives in Bold Reason, Midsummer Night II and Auction Ring, who should also work well together.

The UAE Derby (G3), a nine furlong event on dirt, was an opportunity for Godolphin's Kentucky Derby entries to flex their muscles. Their number one hope, Street Cry, was brought with a long, late run, which looked like succeeding, but he had nothing left in reserve to hold the renewed challenge of stable companion Express Tour, who prevailed by a short head. The winner had joined Godolphin after winning three stakes races in Florida last season, and his pedigree is a veritable who's who of unfashionable names.

Express Tour 1997 is 3x4 to the three quarter genetic relatives Secretariat and Envoy, both sons of Bold Ruler out of Princequillo mares, but it is Express Tour's maternal grandsire PRIVATE EXPRESS 1984 that catches the eye. The pedigree of this relatively unknown stallion, whose main claim to fame was winning the Michigan Futurity, featured two sets of close genetic relatives; being 3x4 to GREY PHANTOM 1953 and MY BABU 1945, and 3x3 to LITERARY LIGHT 1955 and AMERIGO 1955.

Grey Phantom was by Ambiorix (by Tourbillon out of Lavendula II) out of a Mahmoud mare; a very similar pattern to My Babu, who was by Tourbillon's son Djebel out of Perfume II by Mahmoud's three quarter brother Badruddin out of Lavendula II. Literary Light (granddam of Private Express's sire Pass The Tab) and Amerigo also had closely matched genetic backgrounds; Literary Light being by a son of Nearco out of a daughter of the mare Traffic Light, while Amerigo was by Nearco himself out of a daughter of Traffic Light's three quarter sister Sun Helmet. Both additionally had Bachelor's Double close up in their pedigrees, together with either Sundridge or his close genetic relative Hurry On.

It is also worth spending a moment considering the close links found in the pedigree of Express Tour's granddam Fashion Feature, as she is 2x1 to the mare Bell's Lark and Humanidad. While Bell's Lark was 3x4 to the full brothers Bull Dog and Sir Gallahad III and 3x3 to the half brothers Hyperion and Pharamond; we find that Humanidad reinforced these strains being 4x4 to Hyperion with her dam 3x3 to Bull Dog.

A further twist is provided by Bell's Lark's fifth dam, Winkipop, who links back to Private Express by being a full sister to the mare Third Trick. The latter was ancestress of Traffic Light and Sun Helmet, the three quarter sisters mentioned above, when discussing Private Express. All this gives Express Tour's dam a very tight knit pedigree pattern. It also gives hope to all breeders, however limited their resources, that results can be achieved by the judicial accumulation of closely related individuals further back in the pedigree.

There was an excellent field assembled for the Dubai Sheema Classic (G2), a mile and a half event run on turf. Last year's Emirates World Series winner Fantastic Light looked the likely winner when taking the lead inside the last couple of furlongs, but was caught on the line by the Japanese trained seven year old Stay Gold 1994, a son of the all conquering stallion Sunday Silence.

Sunday Silence traces tail female to the mare Cinna (herself 3x3 to the important mare Quiver), and many of his best offspring have multiple strains of this female family in their genetic backgrounds. However, this is not the case with Stay Gold, but he does trace tail female to a mare (Sonsie Queen) sired by Quiver's close relative Musket. Stay Gold's cross of Sunday Silence and Northern Taste has proved a fruitful one recently, with Stakes Winners such as Jo Big Bang, Future Sunday, Fusaichi Zenon and Daiwa Rouge.

The shortest race on the card, the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G3), produced the easiest winner, when Caller One made most of the running to score by an easy four and a half lengths. This classy US sprinter was ideally suited by the six furlong dirt course.

The pedigree of Caller One 1997 features a 3x2 cross of genetic relatives Icecapade and Danzig. Comparing their pedigrees we find that both combine the strains of Nearctic, Native Dancer and Fighting Fox. In fact, Icecapade and Danzig's sire Northern Dancer are actually three quarter genetic relatives. Incidentally, Icecapade and Danzig have combined in the pedigrees of previous Group winners Dantelah and Shawnee Country.

Caller One's pedigree also provides a perfect illustration of what is termed balanced breeding, the duplication of ancestors in a pedigree via both sons and daughters. A look at Caller One's fourth generation shows both the stallion Mr Busher (by War Admiral out of Baby League) and the mare Busanda (by War Admiral out of Baby League's half sister Businesslike). This sex balance is further maintained as Mr Busher presence is via his daughter Prattle; while Busanda appears courtesy of her son Buckpasser.

The Dubai Duty Free (G2) saw the great New Zealand mare Sunline, bidding to further her international reputation, this time over nine furlongs on the turf course. She wasn't helped by having the head strong Slickly take her on for the early lead, but still ran a gallant race to finish a close third. Her old rival Fairy King Prawn looked the winner when he took the lead inside the final furlong, but in a dramatic finish the globe trotting Jim And Tonic battled back to get his head in front on the line.

Jim and Tonic 1994 is easily the best offspring of Double Bed, a French based stallion by Be My Guest. Double Bed was a Gr2 winner in France before coming to race in America as a five year old, where he won the twelve furlong Hialeah Turf Cup (G1). Jim And Tonic's dam, Jinka, has bred a total of nine winners from her ten foals to race, and although four others were also sired by Double Bed, none came remotely close to matching their brother's ability. Indeed, most of them did their winning over jumps in France. Even so, the cross has worked here and although Jim And Tonic's pedigree is pretty much an outcross one, it does feature a 4x5 duplication of Tudor Minstrel via a balancing daughter and son, reinforced with a further strain of Tudor Minstrel's close relative Abernant.

However, a closer look reveals a couple of interesting individuals nestling in Jim and Tonic's fifth generation, namely the mare Dusky Slipper and the stallion Alibhai. At first glance their pedigrees seem to have little in common, but look deeper and you will find that 29 of the 32 ancestors in Alibhai's fifth generation appear in the genetic background of Dusky Slipper.

The final race on the card was the Dubai World Cup (G1), won in the past by such greats as Cigar and Dubai Millennium. The Japanese trained mare To The Victory (a daughter of Sunday Silence) made a gallant attempt to make all the running, and turning into the straight appear to have slipped her field. However, jockey Jerry Bailey brought Captain Steve with a beautifully timed run to win going away by three lengths, and provide the rider with his third success in this prestigious event. To The Victory held on for a thoroughly deserved second, just ahead of Hightori and State Shinto.

The pedigree of Captain Steve 1997 is yet another example of one featuring a pair of individuals with quite similar genetic backgrounds. This time the individuals involved are the stallions Damascus 1964 and Crozier 1958, who appear 3x4. Damascus's grandsire Sunglow combines strains of Teddy, Stimulus and the mare Rosedrop, while Damascus himself was out of a My Babu mare. Now compare this with Crozier, who was by My Babu out of Miss Olympia; the latter being a mare whose pedigree also features Rosedrop, Teddy and Stimulus.

Moving a generation forward, Captain Steve's grandsire Time For A Change was by Damascus out of a mare by Bold Ruler's son Reviewer; while Captain Steve's granddam Sparkling Topaz was by Bold Ruler's son Jacinto out of a mare by Damascus's previously mentioned genetic relative Crozier.

Finally, Captain Steve's sire Fly So Free was 5mx4f to Sun Again (by Sun Teddy) and Captain Steve himself traces tail female to Sun Teddy's close relative Camelina.

It will be fascinating to see Captain Steve renew rivalry with his Breeders Cup Classic conqueror Tiznow later in the season. Perhaps the lesson to be learned from this wonderful days racing is that fashion does not always breed the fastest thoroughbred. It is a sobering thought that none of the pedigrees of the six winners contained Mr Prospector, and none featured inbreeding to Northern Dancer; proving that there are viable alternatives to these two all pervading strains.

Copyright Nigel Pullen 2001.