Dalham Hall Stud's classic-winning miler Dubawi (by Dubai Millennium) is well-known around the world as being one of the very best sires in active service. He gets top two-year-olds, sprinters, milers and middle-distance horses, and one of the brightest stars of the latter group in 2016 is his five-year-old son Postponed.
Some horses have impressed once or twice, but Postponed has won four times, by an aggregate of almost 11 lengths, three of those at the highest level, and he has not met with defeat since June 2015. That was his third-place finish to Snow Sky and Eagle Top in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes at Ascot, back when we knew him as a Group 1-placed Group 2 scorer with the potential to hit the top. A month later he beat Eagle Top by a nose in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes over the same course and distance, and his only subsequent outing that season was his win in the Group 2 Prix Foy on very soft ground at Longchamp in September. It was shortly after that victory that he left the Luca Cumani stable to join Roger Varian's team. Postponed kicked off 2016 with a three-length defeat of subsequent Group 1 scorer Dariyan in the Group 2 Dubai City of Gold over 12 furlongs at Meydan in early March, he beat Japanese star Duramente by two lengths in the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic over the course and distance three weeks later, and then trounced Breeders' Cup heroine Found by four and a half lengths in the Group 1 Coronation Cup at Epsom in June. Yesterday, he dropped back to the extended 10 furlongs of the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes at York and, in a quick time, beat last month's King George hero Highland Reel by one and a quarter lengths, with Mutakayyef another length back in third.
Given his age and all that he has achieved, it is to be expected that he will be taking up a prominent stallion role in either 2017 or 2018, a career path that is already under way for one of his relations.
Dubawi is 14 years old, his tally of 112 stakes winners includes 23 who have won at least once at the highest level somewhere in the world, and although it is still early for him as a sire of stallions, his first one with runners is Haras de Bonneval's classic winner and classic sire Makfi and his second is the Group 1-winning miler and pattern sire Poet's Voice. That is promising, but no more than that: we need more data before being able to determine what sort of long-term impact his male line might have. Some of the progeny of his top-level winners Akeed Mofeed, Al Kazeem, Hunter's Light, Monterosso, Night Of Thunder, and Waldpark, and those of Group 2 scorers Aljamaaheer, Universal and Worthadd, will have appeared on the track before the first offspring of Postponed get there, so by that time we should know a lot more. Bred by St Albans Bloodstock Llp and a 360,000gns graduate of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Postponed is the second foal out of Ever Rigg (by Dubai Destination), a mare whose sole win in five starts came over 12 furlongs on the polytrack at Kempton. Her first foal, Neamour (by Oasis Dream), was placed four times from seven starts, from seven to 12 furlongs, and her first foal is an Archipenko (by Kingmambo) colt born last August. Their three-year-old half-brother Avoidable (by Iffraaj) ran three times on the all-weather track at Wolverhampton earlier in the year, with a two-length fifth on his second start being the most distinguished of his performances. Their two-year-old half-sister has been named God Given (by Nathaniel), the mare had a Makfi (by Dubawi) colt in 2015, and that three-parts brother to Postponed was followed by a full-brother to the Group 1 star, who arrived at the end of April.
Ever Rigg was the sixth foal out of the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes heroine Bianca Nera (by Salse), she is a half-sister to several winners, including the five-times scorer Glencairn Star (by Selkirk), but it is three of her half-sisters who deserve more detailed comment.
Bite of The Cherry (by Dalakhani) was twice listed-placed, Bijou A Moi (by Rainbow Quest) is the dam of the Group 3 Winter Derby scorer Robin Hoods Bay (by Motivator), and Pietra Dura (by Cadeaux Genereux) is the stakes-placed dam of Turning Top (by Pivotal), who won the Grade 3 Beverley Hills Handicap and was runner-up to Hibaayeb in the Grade 1 Yellow Ribbon Stakes. That filly was also placed in the Grade 2 Robert J Frankel Stakes, in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Stakes and in the Grade 2 Las Palmas Handicap, and on her penultimate start in graded company, was fourth (no blacktype) behind Dubawi Heights in another edition of the Grade 1 Yellow Ribbon Stakes. Bianca Nera, the top-rated juvenile filly in Ireland in 1996, had an Exceed And Excel (by Danehill) colt in 2014 and a Farhh (by Pivotal) filly in May, and she was the best of several winners out of Birch Creek (by Carwhite), a Group 3-placed half-sister to Group 3 Ballyogan Stakes winner and Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes runner-up Great Deeds (by Forzando). Her full-sister My Mariam is the dam of the twice listed-placed filly In The Ribbons (by In The Wings), but it is two of her other siblings who have made the more notable contributions to the family's reputation. Hotelgenie Dot Com (by Selkirk) was a leading juvenile, who was placed in both the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes and Group 1 Fillies' Mile, and she is the dam of the classic-placed dual Group 1 star Simply Perfect (by Danehill). That Jeremy Noseda-trained grey first caught the eye when runner-up in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes just 16 days after chasing home Dutch Art in a Windsor maiden, and she rounded off that first season with wins in the Group 2 May Hill Stakes (at York that year) and Group 1 Fillies' Mile. Simply Perfect chased home Finsceal Beo and Arch Swing in the Group 1 1000 Guineas on her seasonal reappearance, was well-beaten in the Oaks, and then took the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes over a mile at Newmarket shortly before finishing third behind classic star Darjina in the Group 1 Prix d'Astarte at Deauville, beaten by just a length. She was only beaten by a total of two lengths when fourth behind Majestic Roi in the Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes over the same trip at Newmarket that October and then put up that bizarre display in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Monmouth Park, pulling her way to the front, leading the pack for a bit, and then hanging right across the course, taking a couple of her rivals with her, before being pulled up. Her second foal is Mekong River (by Galileo), who ran away with the Listed Eyrefield Stakes at Leopardstown as a juvenile, won the Group 3 International Stakes over 10 furlongs at the Curragh at three, and later went to race in Scandinavia. His full-brother Graphite is entered in next year's Derby, and she had another Galileo (by Sadler's Wells) colt in 2015.
Simply Perfect's unraced full-sister One Moment In Time had a couple of fillies in Australia before returning to the country of her birth in 2009. She too had a Galileo colt last year, and he is a full-brother to three winners, most notably Bondi Beach.
For just under two weeks last year he was the Group 1 St Leger winner of 2015, but the stewards' room decision that awarded him the prize on the day was reversed on appeal and so first-past-the-post Simple Verse got her name on the roll of honour for the oldest classic instead. Before then he had short-head Order Of St George in the Group 3 Curragh Cup and chased home Storm The Stars in the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes, and this season he has won twice from three starts. Bondi Beach, who is trained by Aidan O'Brien, kicked off the year with a two and three-quarter length win in the Listed Martin Molony Stakes over 12 and a half furlongs at Limerick, he followed-up with an odds-on success in the Group 3 Vintage Crop Stakes over 14 furlongs at Navan and then finished third behind Stellar Mass in the Group 3 Ballyroan Stakes over 12 at Leopardstown. As you might expect, his entries include the Group 1 Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger and the Group 2 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup. Bianca Nera's other notable sister is Crackling (by Electric), a dual winner who came up with the Listed Warwickshire Oaks scorer Ronaldsay (by Kirkwall) and whose descendants include a popular young Irish stallion. That horse is Gale Force Ten (by Oasis Dream), the first foal out of that stakes-winning mare. He was second in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes and third in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes as a juvenile, kicked off his three-year-old campaign with listed success over seven furlongs at Dundalk, and was beaten by less than a length when fourth behind Style Vendome in the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas), splitting subsequent Group 1 stars Intello (third) and Havana Gold (fifth) in that five-way finish. Just 13 days after that he chased home Magician in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh, then justified favouritism in the Group 3 Jersey Stakes at Ascot before finishing sixth in the Group 1 July Cup. The best of his subsequent placings was fourth (no blacktype) in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp. Gale Force Ten stands at the Irish National Stud and some of his first foals will be on offer later this year. Crackling is also the dam of the dual US Grade 3 scorer Pickle (by Piccolo) and that mare, in turn, is the dam of the prolific listed-winning sprinter Gusto (by Oasis Dream), whose half-sister Beauly (by Sea The Stars) was only beaten half a length by Abingdon in the Listed Lord Weinstock Memorial Stakes over 10 furlongs at Newbury in May.
If you go back to the sixth generation of the family then you will find two other notable individuals.
Life Sentence (by Court Martial), who was placed in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes, Chesham Stakes and St Hugh's Stakes, became the dam of 1963's 2000 Guineas and King Edward VII Stakes winner Only For Life (by Chanteur), sire of the Timeform 124-rated Observer Gold Cup (now Racing Post Trophy) scorer The Elk. Her half-brother Double Bore (by Borealis) was a talented middle-distance and staying horse in England, who won the Goodwood Cup in 1955 and was Timeform-rated 123, before going on to sire the prolific Australian big-race winner Scotch And Dry and also 1965's Caulfield Cup hero Bore Head. The connection between those horses and Postponed is remote, but should he or his Irish-based relative sire big race winners then they will not be the first ones in their family to do so. Before then, however, there are more races to be run, and with over £4.36 million already to his name, he is among the highest-earning European-trained horses of all time. Postponed is one of a glittering array of stars with an entry in next month's Group 1 Qipco Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, he is one of the ante-post favourites for the Group 1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October, and so there is a good chance that he could pass the £5 million mark so narrowly missed by the ill-fated pair St Nicholas Abbey (£4,954,590) and Red Cadeaux (£4,998,408) before he embarks on the next phase of his career. Comments are closed.
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