A family with so much to offer
E Dubai had enjoyed a terrific year which has included a Breeders' Cup winner and a hugely impressive juvenile colt. But it's not just his own offspring that are exciting: his is currently one of the most happening families in the studbook
With a Breeders’ Cup winner among his offspring, E Dubai is following in his acclaimed sire’s footsteps. Well up in the third-crop sires’ list for 2008, the grandly conformed and accomplished stallion is quickly becoming the ‘go to’ son of the great Mr. Prospector to provide terrific value and returns at a very modest fee.
The imperial pedigree of E Dubai has contributed to 18 - which equals an admirable 9.5% - of his winners developing into Stakes quality runners. His graded winners include Desert Code, Buy the Barrel and High Heels; and speedy Desert Key ran second in the G1 Netjets King’s Bishop S. at Saratoga. Buy the Barrel is a Grade Two-winning homebred of Hinkle Farm. The chestnut four-year-old filly has run out seven wins for $339,740. The half-million dollar earner High Heels, owned and bred by Anita Ebert, was a no-contest winner in the G2 Fantasy S. at Oaklawn, which put her on the road to the G1 Kentucky Oaks where she finished a gallant third to champion Rags to Riches and Octave. Dubai Distinction took the Eillo S., a race named for Mr. Prospector’s Sprint Champion who blasted wire-to-wire in the very first Breeders’ Cup race. The latest success for E Dubai is the Listed winner Accredit, a $200K earner.
In October, E Dubai’s son Desert Code swept up his sixth lifetime victory in the inaugural running of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Contested at six-and-a-half furlongs over the uniquely designed Santa Anita downhill turf course, the hotly contested spot required a well executed play for the win. At the start, Desert Code and rider Richard Migliore left Arcadia’s Baldwin Ave. to the north and charged behind a gangbuster field toward the only right-handed curve on American turf. The colt out of the Lost Code mare, Chatta Code had come into his toughest test to date with three previous wins over the course including the Joe Hernandez S. His post-time dismissal by punters at 36.5-to-1 was truly a testament to how deep the talent was in the 14-horse field.
Both pilot and horse galloped on with confidence. Migliore sat poised through the right and left hand turns and dared not pull the trigger until Desert Code floated a half-dozen strides across the Pro-Ride main track. Once called upon, the chestnut made up a good six lengths on the breakaway leader, Diabolical, and caught him in the last two jumps. The time of 1:11.60 surpassed Baffle’s course record that was unblemished for decades. Lennyfrommalibu currently holds the record at 1:11.14. Desert Code’s tally of $1,028,939 includes seconds in the G2 Mervyn LeRoy H. and the G3 Berkely S. Happily, owner Tarabilla Farms, Inc. and their trainer David Hofmans have confirmed the continuance of Desert Code’s racing career at five. Chatta Code, owned by Woodford Thoroughbreds, produced a weanling full-sister to Desert Code and is currently in-foal to Discreet Cat.
E Dubai’s dam is the very useful graded-placed Words Of War. From 44 starts, she won or placed in 13 Stakes and established an eight-and-a-half-furlong turf course record at Churchill Downs. Her sire Lord At War was a champion miler in Argentina before being sent to Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham who nurtured his talents to score wins in the G1 Santa Anita and San Antonio Handicaps and four other Stakes.
What is proving to be one of the most fashionable and actively progressive families today, along with E Dubai, Words Of War has produced four other winners, including Nureyev’s No Matter What, who also fancied grass and won the G1 Del Mar Oaks. No Matter What is now the dam of the Rainbow View. In 2008, Rainbow View raced undefeated in four starts including the Group One Meon Valley Stud Fillies’ Mile at Ascot. What Rainbow View lacks in size, as her owner George Strawbridge puts it, says she has made up for ‘in heart’. She was recognized at the Cartier Racing Awards in London and has been rated by Timeform as the best two-year-old filly in Europe.
The quality continues: Words Of War’s full-sister Ascutney is the dam of HRH Princess Haya’s star perfromer Raven’s Pass, a son of E Dubai's stablemate Elusive Quality. The chestnut colt's formidable career ended with a huge win over Horse of the Year Curlin in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic. His résumé includes wins in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S., the G2 Celebration Mile and three Group One seconds. In the voting, he narrowly missed out to the Derby winner New Approach as England’s top three-year-old.
E Dubai’s fourth dam Classicist is responsible for the Belmont winner Danzig Connection and G1 Widener Handicap winner Pine Circle and it is E Dubai’s fifth dam Classic Music that is the grass root of Champion Sprinter What a Summer, and her great-granddaughter, the 2008 G1 Frizette winner Sky Diva.
E Dubai caught the eye even before he set foot on a racetrack when he fetched $1.35 million at Keeneland’s September sale. He handled a five-furlong maiden special weight with ease in a smart 57.8 seconds at Del Mar and then wintered in Dubai in preparation for a sophomore campaign. A nine-length Stakes victory at Nad Al Sheba signaled his readiness to return to the US and, on his first start back, he was second in the G2 Peter Pan to Hero’s Tribute. Not one to be denied, he flew through fractions of :44 flat, 1:07.97, and 1:40.38 to take the G2 Dwyer in record time for the eight-and-a-half furlongs at Aqueduct. The Dwyer also served as a significant stepping-stone in the careers of his outstanding fellow Darley stallions, Cherokee Run, Any Given Saturday and Holy Bull.
E Dubai always preferred to be on or near the pace. At four, he dominated every pole in the one and a-quarter-mile, G2 Suburban H. over Chilean Horse of the Year Lido Palace, an accomplished multiple Grade One winner in the US, and Eclipse champion Macho Uno. His time of 2:00.95 earned him a top grade Equibase rating of 120. In all, he finished first or second in eight of eleven starts for $920,800 including solid runner-up efforts in G1 Travers and G1 Super Derby.
E Dubai holds the lofty distinction as the fastest of Mr. Prospector’s 1,178 foals. The precociousness that he displayed throughout his career has carried forward into his two-year-olds and his training-sale juveniles. Barilko won three stakes at Woodbine at two and was nominated for a Sovereign Award. E Dubai is indeed popular with pinhook professionals. His 2008 returns reflected a resilient median average at $162,500. In February, Saints Alive, out of Golden Envoy by Dayjur, breezed a 10.1 second eighth over the sandy Calder strip and consequently returned a substantial profit when hammered down for $325,000 at the Fasig-Tipton sale in Miami.
The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic preferred sale presented more opportunity in Preakness week. The E Dubai half-brother to stakes winners Don Corleone and Tin Cup Chalice sailed to the forefront of the two-day sale; fetching $230,000 for Nick de Meric. Now named Mr Fantasy, the May-foaled colt posted a ten-and-a-half length maiden victory on his first start at Aqueduct on 28 December. His performance was not only a fitting way for his sire to end 2008 but also offers much promise for the forthcoming season during which E Dubai’s fee will remain at $15,000 (Stands and Nurses).
29 December 2008