Wadee Al Shaqab
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart.” — Helen Keller
Wadee Al Shaqab
Wadee Al Shaqab
by Betty Finke
It is said that lightning never strikes twice. In terms of horse breeding, most breeders can count themselves lucky if they breed one World Champion and top international sire in a lifetime, never mind two. Al Shaqab has achieved the near impossible, beaten the odds and produced not just one such horse, nor even two, but an entire dynasty of them. At its center is the triad made up of Gazal Al Shaqab, his son Marwan Al Shaqab and Marwan’s son Kahil Al Shaqab, an unprecedented case of three generations achieving World Champion titles and international fame as sires of champions all across the world. Success on this scale is, in a word, amazing. And it isn’t finished yet. Whereas both Gazal and Marwan were each one of a kind within their respective generation, the third in line, Kahil Al Shaqab, is not alone. He has a younger brother who has already set out to follow the path mapped out by his older relatives. His name: Wadee Al Shaqab.
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The Legend Continues
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NAWAF AL JOHANI PHOTO
At just seven years of age, Wadee Al Shaqab has already collected an impressive lineup of showring trophies. He was Qatar National Gold Champion Colt as a yearling. As a two-year-old, he was named Al Khalediah Silver Champion, Qatar International Gold Champion, Menton Gold Champion, and to crown it all, World Gold Junior Champion. In his first appearance as a senior stallion in 2014, he was named Qatar International Gold Champion Stallion. Marwan Al Shaqab has sired an impressive number of World Champions, but two full brothers both winning this title are equally as rare as three successive generations doing so. So it is worth taking a look at OFW Mishaahl, the mare who helped to
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bring about this miracle. After all, even if it is easily forgotten today, the bedouin breeders accorded much greater significance to the mares than to the stallions. OFW Mishaahl, bred by Harold and Dolly Orr, was acquired for Al Shaqab by Michael Byatt, who went on a buying trip with Sheikh Hamad bin Ali Al Thani back in 2006. She was four years old at the time. “I knew her as a youngster and she was just a big, correct, very elegant looking mare,” Michael recalls. “She wasn’t the most successful show horse, but both Sheikh Hamad and I saw something in her. She had this beautiful long neck, very tall, very athletic. She was the one we both loved. We looked at a lot of horses that trip and she really rose to the top of both my and Hamad’s list. She was just a really handsome, beautiful horse.” One thing she was not, to use a word that is somewhat overemphasized these days, is exotic. “She was a great mover, and there was something about her that told me she was going to be a great producer. With some mares you just have a gut feeling,” says Sheikh Hamad. OFW Mishaahl is proof of the often observed fact that a great producing mare does not need to be a show champion herself. She may not have had the pretty little dished head beloved of the modern
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show crowd, but she had the basic quality and, most
of this strain from the Roala bedouins. Many famous
especially, she had the breeding. Her pedigree is
horses have come from this family, including World
certainly impressive. Sired by the imposing Canadian
Champion *Carmargue and the popular European sire
National Futurity Champion and U.S. National Top Ten
Ajman Moniscione.
Stallion Mishaal out of the black OFW Balarina by RSD
Not surprisingly, given the strong presence of
Dark Victory, OFW Mishaahl boasts six crosses to the
Polish blood in her pedigree, she had something
legendary *Bask, was a double great-granddaughter
about her that recalled the famous Polish Kuhailan
of Bey Shah and has additional lines to such great
mares — fabulous broodmares, though not the type
names as Khemosabi, *Bandos, *Serafix, and *Naborr.
that would win at today’s shows. “It makes sense that
Of these, *Bask, Bey Shah, and *Naborr also feature
Poland ended up using Kahil like they did,” explains
in Marwan Al Shaqab’s pedigree. Her dam line traces
Michael Byatt, “because when I look at Mishaahl,
back to the famous broken legged mare Bint Helwa
she reminds me of some of those beautiful bay
and the Seglawi Jedrans beloved of Abbas Pasha of
Kuhailan type mares that bred such beautiful horses.
Egypt, who is said to have acquired all the horses
She wasn’t necessarily the most exotic, but her
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GLENN JACOBS PHOTO
Deshawn Parker
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fundamentals were so good, her grace was so good, she was such an elegant horse. I see a lot of her style in Kahil and Wadee, long, graceful, beautiful necks and handsomeness. Just really good horses.” Breed a mare like that to a typey stallion, and you are certain to get results. Most of Mishaahl’s foals have been by Marwan Al Shaqab, and Kahil was the second of them and the first colt. “When Kahil was born he was evidently special,” says Sheikh Hamad. “So once you have a colt like this, you of course try it again. And then you get Wadee, so then it is evident that there is something special on the way.” Asked what he believes OFW Mishaahl contributed to the success formula, Sheikh Hamad points out the similarity between the two parents, proving the old breeder’s adage of breeding “like to like” rather than extremes to each other. “Both Marwan and OFW Mishaahl in their own ways were similar: dark bay, necky, sound conformation, showy attitudes. So it is normal that they are so consistent as producers, but Mishaahl probably fixated the genes to give the consistency in this family.” Kahil shot to prominence as a yearling, when he was named unanimous Gold Champion at the Austrian International Championships. He followed this with a series of wins as a two- and three-year-old, including All Nations Cup Silver Junior Champion, and Gold titles at the Qatar International Championships,
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Menton, and the World Championships. Like his sire before him, he is both a Junior and a Senior World Champion Stallion. A year later, he was leased by the Polish State Studs, essentially unproven as a sire at the time, and the resulting foals, including major winners like Pustynia Kahila and Al Jazeera, firmly put his name on the map as a sire. Compared to a record like this, it is not surprising that Wadee, even if he has been very successful so far, has to date been eclipsed by his more famous brother’s achievements. But Al Shaqab believes strongly in his potential as a sire. So much so that after his junior wins, he was given a major chance as a breeding horse at a specially low stud fee, in order to get more breeders to use him. “We gave him a breeding boost to prove his siring ability,” says Sheikh Hamad, “because we believe that a stallion should always prove himself as a sire before anything else. We are not interested in stallions that are just show horses, because we are first of all breeders!” Opening his book with a special offer was the only chance to give him publicity as a sire, because there simply isn’t very much he can do at home. Al Shaqab manager Santiago Fornieles explains: “Our problem is that we cannot use him too much in our breeding program because we have plenty of Marwan and Kahil daughters. That is why we decided to make him available to the public during 2016 at a very low breeding fee. We feel he needed
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Anaza El Farid *Gazal Al Shaqab Kajora *Marwan Al Shaqab Fame VF Little Liza Fame Katahza Wadee Al Shaqab 23, August, 2010
JK Spartan Mishaah Mistral Bey OFW Mishaahl RSD Dark Victory OFW Balarina Balaquina
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*Marwan Al Shaqab
Wadee Al Shaqab
OFW Mishaahl
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Belladonna AT, 2015 filly (Wadee Al Shaqab x Om El Bellatrix by Om El Shahmaan), bred and owned by Al Thumama Stud, Qatar. She was 2016 Gold Champion Yearling Filly, Qatar International, 2016 Top 5 Yearling Filly World Championships, Paris, Top 5 Yearling Filly AHO World Cup, Chantilly, and Bronze Champion Yearling Filly at the All Nations Cup, Aachen. 14 b AL SHAQAB b WORLD
Mansour Al Khor, 2016 colt (Wadee Al Shaqab x Rumaitha Al Zobara by Farhoud Al Shaqab), bred and owned by Al Khor Stud, Qatar. He was 2016 Silver Champion Yearling Colt, Kuwait International. 15 b AL SHAQAB b WORLD
ZIGGY PHOTO
FORNIELES PHOTO
Menwah Al Shaqab, 2015 filly (Wadee Al Shaqab x Miss El Power JQ), bred and owned by Al Shaqab. 16 b AL SHAQAB b WORLD
to have an opportunity of breeding a lot of mares to show the world what we know he has to offer. Now his breeding fee is back to 3,000 euros because the demand was very high from all over the world. We are pretty sure that next year there will be magic Wadee babies all over the world!” There are quite a few of those around already, as well as breeders who are very pleased with the results. “He is very consistent in siring type even with mares that traditionally are not producers of type,” explains Santiago, “so for us he is a key stallion.” No two horses are exactly alike, not even full brothers. Asked in what respects Kahil and Wadee differ, Santiago offers: “Wadee is more refined, has a better head, but has his brother’s charisma and conformation. He is as exuberant as his brother, but maybe even better moving than Kahil.” Given all this, it does not come as a surprise that this year Wadee Al Shaqab is heading back to the international showrings under the guidance of Giacomo Capacci. The time has come for him to prove himself in the showring as a mature stallion, like his brother and sire have done before him. It seems safe to say that very soon now, we will see Wadee Al Shaqab emerge from Kahil’s mighty shadow and turn out to be much more than just the “little brother.”
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FORNIELES PHOTO
Marmar Al Shaqab, 2015 filly (Wadee Al Shaqab x Magheeda Al Shaqab),
ZIGGY PHOTO
bred and owned by Al Shaqab.
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While Marwan was the obvious heir to Gazal’s crown, we don’t at this point know who will be Marwan’s heir apparent. For some time it seemed a sure bet that Kahil would fulfill that role, but the last word has not yet been spoken. “It is still premature to say which one will be Marwan’s heir,” replies Sheikh Hamad when asked for his opinion. “It is a bit unfair to compare them at this stage. Kahil bred some of the most amazing Polish mares while on lease and did an amazing job, but Wadee did not have that chance yet and was always in the shadow of his brother. I believe Wadee has a great future ahead in the showring, but especially in the breeding arena. Wadee has Kahil’s magic and more, so I feel he will be as important as Kahil or even more.” Only time will tell. There are highs and lows in the lives of horse breeders everywhere, whether they are famous or not. Al Shaqab had to suffer a huge loss recently by losing the mare who contributed so much to this success story, the wonderful OFW Mishaahl. But the story of which she has been such a vital part still continues. Besides Wadee, who is setting out to leave his mark on the world, and Kahil, who already has, there is yet another, younger full brother, and, perhaps even more precious, there are two full sisters. Both are still young, Sultanat Al Shaqab two and a half years old and Hadba Al Shaqab just a yearling. Hadba has already won the Qatar National and International Yearling Filly
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Championships, proving that the girls from this cross can also compete with the best. Certainly both should be valuable broodmares in the future. OFW Mishaal’s last foal was a filly by Hariry Al Shaqab, about whom Santiago says he is “very excited.” Mishaahl may be gone, but the story is far from over. The next thrilling chapter in this ongoing tale will be written by Wadee Al Shaqab as he prepares to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and wow the show audiences throughout Europe. There are exciting times ahead for everyone involved. The Gazal-Marwan dynasty is truly like no other, and it seems doubtful, at least, if we will see anything like this again. But, according to Sheikh Hamad, that doesn’t mean one shouldn’t keep trying. “If we don’t dream about creating another legacy like that,” he declares, “we might as well quit what we are doing and go diving!” It’s a safe bet nobody is quitting, whether going diving or not. Meanwhile, the descendants of Gazal and Marwan remain the ones to beat in the international show arenas; which, it must be said, very rarely happens. These horses are definitely not diving, they’re going higher and higher. The sky’s the limit.
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“…it does not come as a surprise that this year Wadee Al Shaqab is
heading
back
to
the
international showrings under the guidance of Giacomo Capacci. The time has come for him to prove himself in the showring as a mature stallion, like his brother and sire have done before him. It seems safe to say that very soon now, we will see Wadee Al Shaqab emerge from Kahil’s mighty shadow and turn out to be much more than just the “little brother.”
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ALL PHOTOS: CONFORMATION UNALTERED
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Sheikh Hamad bin Ali Al Thani Manager of Breeding and Show Department ¡ www.alshaqab.com Designed and produced by Arabian Horse World • 04/17