21 years ago Dubai Millennium won the Dubai World Cup in the highlight of what was an almost unblemished career which included three other wins at the highest level in Britain and France.
In a cruel twist of fate for such an esteemed racehorse for Sheikh Mohammed, Dubai Millennium died during his very first covering season and therefore was left with just 56 foals to carry his genes into the future.
To say they are still represented today would be an understatement of seismic proportions because his one Group One-winning son from that sole tiny crop is of course the breed-sculpting Dubawi.
And as we trace one of the Dubai World Cup Carnival’s most recent victors back to Dubai Millennium, several patterns begin to emerge.
Dubawi, as we know, won the National Stakes at two and went on to triumph in the Irish Guineas and Prix Jacques Le Marois at three. And setting the tone for what was yet to come very early on, Dubawi emulated his sire and also bred a Classic winner in his first crop.
That horse was Makfi, winner of the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and, like his father, the Prix Jacques Le Marois at Deauville. He retired to Tweenhills Farm for four seasons before a brief stint in France, and in 2016 was sold to stand in Japan.
From a £25,000 fee in that first season, Makfi followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and produced a Classic winner from his first crop, this time in the form of French 2000 Guineas and Prix de la Foret winner Make Believe.
That colt, who ran in the colours of Prince Faisal, did not let the sire line down and in keeping with the tradition set by his three fore-fathers, became the fourth in the line to sire a Classic winner from his first crop of 69 runners bred at a fee of €20,000.
This time however it was not the Guineas, but the ten-furlong French Derby winner Mishriff who added another branch to the tree and now, thanks to some very lucrative wins in the Middle-East, has earned over £10 million for his owner-breeder.
Like his sire, grandsire and great-great grandsire, Mishriff did not appear until very late in his juvenile year, winning on his third attempt in November 2019 at Nottingham. Dubawi was the only one of the five who had a busy two-year-old season.
But Mishriff has more than made up for that. On his first start as a sophomore last year he placed second in the Saudi Derby before going on to win the Listed Newmarket Stakes back in Britain, claiming his Classic title in the French Derby over The Summit and Victor Ludorum and also beating that pair in the Group Two Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville.
This year, not only has Mishriff won the world’s richest race worth $20,000,000, but he has now brought his sire line full circle by winning the Dubai Sheema Classic with a purse of $6,000,000 on Saturday, at the same meeting his great-great grandsire cemented his own legacy 21 years ago.
And significantly, Mishriff’s three top-level wins have been over three different distances on three varying surfaces and conditions.
Neither of his first two sires had ever extended beyond a mile in their careers. Dubawi ventured over a mile just the once in the Derby at Epsom (placing third), and Dubai Millennium won Group Ones at both a mile and ten furlongs.
On top of that, Mishriff’s female family contains a lot of sire-power which is celebrated at the speedier end of the distance spectrum, so the questions and speculation regarding whether Mishriff would manage the mile-and-a-half distance in the Dubai Sheema Classic on Saturday were probably warranted, but there are several strong sources of stamina within this illustrious pedigree which has been nurtured by Prince Faisal for four generations.
Mishriff is out of the Raven’s Pass mare Contradict who won a fillies handicap over ten furlongs herself and also placed fourth in a Listed event over the same distance.
This is the first top-level winner for Raven’s Pass as a young broodmare sire who is best known for the wins over his great rival Henrythenavigator in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
And Contradict has gotten off to a phenomenal start in her second career with a 100% Black-Type strike rate so far. Her first foal Orbaan (Invincible Spirit) won a Listed race over a mile at Saint-Cloud, while second foal Momkin (Bated Breath) is multiple Group Three placed up to a mile. Her third attempt struck gold with Mishriff.
There were plenty of reasons to anticipate performances at the highest level from Mishriff as his grandam is the 12-furlong Group Three winner, Acts of Grace - a half-sister to the leading sires Invincible Spirit and Kodiac, as well as Massarra, the dam of Italian Group One winner Nayarra and Superlative Stakes winner Gustav Klimt.
Not to mention the other Group One performers Wonderfully and Kilimanjaro; and promising young sire Pride of Dubai who excelled over sprint distances in Australia, featuring under the fourth dam.
It is worth noting that although this family is famed for its sprinting influence on the breed, that along with Mishriff’s grandam being a Group winner at a-mile-and-a-half; his third dam Rafha (the dam of Invincible Spirit and Kodiac) won the French Oaks. And another of her sons, Sadian, also won over the Derby distance and placed fourth in the St Leger.
No-one ever knows which genes are going to be expressed and come to life in any mating. But what we can be certain of is that Mishriff is combining two very prominent, current and renowned sources of sire power on both sides of his pedigree.
How many horses can boast this as well as winning on both turf and dirt, good and heavy ground? And to think the season is just beginning.
