Large Mix of Pedigrees on Display in Dubai

Tapit is represented by three horses

Perhaps the most international event of the year in horse racing, Dubai World Cup night brings together horses from all sides of the world from Australia to England and Ireland to Hong Kong with nearly everything in between.

Of course with a large group of horses running from different parts of the world also comes a wide range of sires and broodmare sires. At this year’s festival, 58 different sires and 68 different broodmare sires are represented in a variety of races from a six furlong dirt sprint to a two-mile turf race. Showing the versatility of some of the bloodlines represented, some sires and damsires can be seen in both sprint and route races.

Meydan has been Dubawi’s (Dubai Millennium) personal playground the last few years and Saturday will be no different for the Darley stallion.

The 14-year-old holds the most entries of any sire on the night with six ranging from the six furlong Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored by Gulf News to the 1 ½ mile Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic Presented by Longines with two runners in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup Sponsored By Emirates Airline as well. Dubawi earned a large chunk of his 2015 progeny earnings during the 2015 Winter Carnival and Dubai World Cup night to lead all North American and European sires at the end of the year according to Thoroughbred Daily News and he has a chance to get a headstart on the rankings again this year.

Oasis Dream (Green Desert) seems to appear everywhere in race entries and Dubai World Cup night is no different. The stallion has four entries on the card with three of those coming in the five furlong turf Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint Sponsored by Meydan Hotels and Hospitality. Sticking to his sprinting roots, he also has one horse making a start a race later in the six furlong Dubai Golden Shaheen on the dirt.

Behind those two European-based stallions are two Americans along with two Europeans who have three horses entered. North America’s leading sire Tapit (Pulpit) is looking to make a big splash in the desert with three entries, including one on turf while fellow North American Hard Spun (Danzig) has two in the Group 1 Dubai Turf Sponsored by DP World with one other running on the dirt in the Group 2 Godolphin Mile Sponsored by Meydan Sobha. 

Hard Spun

But Hard Spun’s Maftool will have to battle it out with the group of Pivotal (Polar Falcon) sons in the race if he wants to take home the winner’s share of $1-million.

The 23-year-old Pivotal stands at Cheveley Park Stud in England so it may seem bit weird to see the stallion’s only representation in Dubai coming on the dirt, but he has had quite a bit of success in Meydan on no-turf surfaces. His son African Story won the 2014 Dubai World Cup on the synthetic surface but also won the Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge R3 Sponsored by Emirates Airline last year on the new dirt surface. Two of his three sons running in the race have won on the dirt surface this year as well so Pivotal has proven his offspring love the surface at this track.

Behind the above stallions are nine stallions who have two horses running on the card but the award for most versatility goes to Haafhd (Alhaarth). 

Sires with more than one horse running on Dubai World Cup night

While both his runners in Dubai come on the turf, they also come in both the shortest and longest races of the night. The stallion’s first runner comes in the two mile Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup Sponsored by Al Tayer Motors with Haafaguinea coming into the race off of two wins early in the festival and two on-the-board finishes in his last two starts. Two races later, his son Fityaan runs 11 furlongs shorter in the five furlong Al Quoz Sprint. Fityaan has run at shorter distances all meet with a win in his last start and one other on-the-board finish since late January.

Much like Dubawi in the sire ranks, Danehill (Danzig) rules the roost in the broodmare sire ranks this weekend.

A leading sire in multiple countries around the world and a leading broodmare sire in North America, Danehill’s impact will be felt in five different World Cup night races from the Golden Shaheen to the Dubai Gold Cup with two entries in the Dubai Turf. Showing his dominance, he is represented by three more horses than any other broodmare sire. Like Haafhd he also has a horse entered in the Al Quoz Sprint in addition to the Gold Cup.

Broodmare sires with more than one horse running on Dubai World Cup night

Another Danzig son in Anabaa also has multiple entries with runners out of his daughters entered in the Al Quoz Sprint, the Dubai Turf and the Dubai World Cup. He is tied with two Mr. Prospector-lined stallions in Timber Country (Woodman) and Seeking the Gold (Mr. Prospector) both also represented by three runners.

Overall, of the 11 damsires to have more than one horse in the Dubai World Cup festival five are from the Northern Dancer sire line and three are from the Mr. Prospector line.