Following his retirement from stallion duties, John Ingles looks at the career of Oasis Dream and his best horses.
At the age of 26, Oasis Dream was the senior member by some way of the Juddmonte stallion roster at Banstead Manor. But after 23 seasons, during which his covering fee peaked at £85,000, Juddmonte announced his retirement from stud duties last week in what was ‘a sad day for the stallion team’ according to General Manager Simon Mockridge.
‘Managing this wonderful stallion over the past 23 years has been both a great pleasure and a privilege. His partnership with Dansili played a monumental part in establishing Juddmonte’s reputation as one of Europe’s leading stallion farms. He finished his breeding career as it began — full of enthusiasm and vigour, genuine to the end.’
While Oasis Dream’s pedigree is a mix of speed and stamina – he’s by Green Desert out of Hope, a daughter of Dancing Brave and whose sister Wemyss Bight won the Irish Oaks, Oasis Dream was very much his father’s son. Trained by John Gosden, the strong, good-bodied Oasis Dream was beaten in his first two starts at two, including over seven furlongs, but he got off the mark in a maiden at Nottingham back down in trip and then showed much improved form in the Middle Park Stakes, putting up the best performance by a two-year-old in 2002 whilst breaking the track record in the process under very firm conditions.
The following season, Oasis Dream was Timeform’s best sprinter when rated 129 and remained one of the best of his generation, rated only behind the top-class middle-distance pair Alamshar and Dalakhani among the leading three-year-olds. Oasis Dream wasn’t ready early enough to have his stamina tested in the 2000 Guineas, so his European campaign was based around the big sprints. With no Commonwealth Cup in those days, he had to carry a penalty in the then Group 2 King’s Stand Stakes when returning at Royal Ascot, finishing third behind Australia’s Choisir.
But he was fitter for a rematch with Choisir in the July Cup and put up a cracking performance to beat him by a length and a half, becoming the first champion two-year-old to win a Group 1 sprint at three since the pattern system was introduced. In Choisir’s absence, Oasis Dream started odds on for the Nunthorpe Stakes and went very close to breaking another track record, being fractionally outside Dayjur’s time but recording the best timefigure by a sprinter for over a decade.
Oasis Dream was beaten in his two remaining starts but first the ground and then the trip were valid excuses for those defeats. He was worn down by Somnus in the Sprint Cup at Haydock on good to soft ground and, having missed the Prix de l’Abbaye because of soft ground at Longchamp, he was stepped up in trip for the Breeders’ Cup Mile on his final start but raced too freely before dropping away in the final furlong to finish in rear.
Here are Oasis Dream’s top six performers by Timeform rating:
Muhaarar (132)
Oasis Dream produced a sprinter even better than himself in Muhaarar. Successful in the Gimcrack Stakes before finishing third when bidding to emulate his sire in the Middle Park, Muhaarar began his three-year-old campaign over longer trips. A win in the Greenham Stakes led to an unsuccessful attempt at the mile in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains, but Muhaarar excelled when returned to sprinting. After winning the first running of the Commonwealth Cup, he became a July Cup winner like his sire before further wins in the Prix Maurice de Gheest and the first running of the British Champions Sprint Stakes as a Group 1.
Ertijaal (129)
Like Muhaarar, Ertijaal raced in the colours of Hamdan Al Maktoum and ultimately excelled as a sprinter, though he took his chance in the 2000 Guineas after winning the three-year-old contest at the All-Weather Championships. But switched from William Haggas to be trained in Dubai, Ertijaal developed into a high-class performer at Meydan, being particularly effective over five furlongs and beaten only once in seven races at that trip. He was a dual winner of the Meydan Sprint, breaking the track record on the first occasion and defeating another top sprinter, Blue Point, the following year.
Midday (126)
High-class mare Midday was Oasis Dream’s best homebred product for Khalid Abdullah and her sire’s most accomplished middle-distance performer of either sex. With stamina in her family – her dam’s half-sister Reams of Verse won the Oaks – Midday came within a head of winning the same race herself when touched off by Sariska. But kept in training until five, Midday’s notable feat was winning the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood three years running. She also made three appearances in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, winning it at the first attempt, with her other big wins coming in the Yorkshire Oaks and Prix Vermeille.
Aqlaam (125)
Another with stamina on his dam’s side – his dam was a half-sister to Persian Punch – Aqlaam made into a high-class miler at four. He too trained by Haggas for Sheikh Hamdan, Aqlaam missed the rest of his three-year-old campaign with a stress fracture after winning the Jersey Stakes but enjoyed a fuller campaign the following year. He won the Summer Mile at Ascot in between placed efforts in the Queen Anne Stakes and Prix Jacques le Marois (when chasing home Goldikova) before making his Group 1 breakthrough in the Prix du Moulin.
Muarrab (125)
Yet another of Oasis Dream’s best horses to race for Sheikh Hamdan, like Ertijaal Muarrab started out in Britain before finding his niche in Dubai, though Muarrab excelled on artificial surfaces rather than turf. He proved a prolific winner, too, racking up a dozen wins at either Jebel Ali or Meydan over a five-year period. While most of those were handicaps or minor events, Muarrab’s big day came at the age of seven in the Golden Shaheen on Dubai World Cup night where he got the better of a sustained duel with the American favourite X Y Jet.
Native Trail (125)
The stand-out performer among Oasis Dream’s later crops, Native Trail was Timeform’s top two-year-old of 2021 when he was unbeaten in four starts, all of them at seven furlongs, notably the National Stakes and Dewhurst Stakes. A win in the Craven Stakes meant Native Trail remained unbeaten going into the 2000 Guineas. Sent off the 5/4 favourite, he found Godolphin stablemate Coroebus too good but gained some compensation in the Irish 2000 Guineas. Native Trail’s best effort subsequently came in the Eclipse where his close third to Vadeni and Mishriff showed that he stayed a mile and a quarter.
More from John Ingles
More from Sporting Life
- Free bets
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
