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PR EV I O U S PAG E : T H E 2 0 0 3 B L AC K S TAL L I O N B E L L AG I O RC A, HI S S I R E A L I XI R ( TH E E L I XI R X TH E P R EV U E ) , B OT TO M L E FT, AN D B EL L AG I O ’ S D AM R HA P S O DY I N B L AC K ( T H E E D E S PE R AD O X A L I AS H A H M R A ) , B OT TO M R I G H T.
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ometimes it doesn’t take much for a breeder to know a foal is special — maybe just that first look. For Judy Sirbasku of Arabians Ltd., in Waco, Texas, this was the case with Bellagio RCA. “He was by his mother’s side in the huge mare and foal pasture. There are a lot of mares and foals out there. He just stood out from the others,” remembers Judy. “There was a unique elegance about him, especially with his long upright neck. He could have been standing in a pasture of 200 and your eyes would still have been drawn to that colt.” You could make the case that Judy was a little partial; after all, Bellagio RCA’s grandam, Aliashahm RA, was one of Judy’s favorite mares. “Judy bought a gray mare Glorieta Zaarina in 1985,” explains manager Shawn Crews. “At the time, she had this amazing black filly by Ruminaja Ali at her side. Glorieta Zaarina and all her family are grey and this filly was just as black as could be. Judy named her Aliashahm RA and she was her pride and joy.” Aliashahm RA’s first foal by Thee Desperado was Rhapsody In Black, the dam of Bellagio RCA. It was this familiarity and faith in Bellagio RCA’s dam line that made Judy and Shawn feel that the young colt wasn’t just a fluke. “Every once in a while you get an outrageous foal that shouldn’t have been like that, and you wonder how it’s going to breed on. We knew Bellagio was supposed to look like he did,” says Shawn. “Everything that comes from this dam line has been easy to breed and consistently good.” The sire of Bellagio RCA, Alixir, is a tall, substantial son of The Elixir that represented an outcross for the Arabians Ltd. herd. “Alixir has perfect legs and feet, with great tail carriage,” says Judy. “He has this incredible structure. You can breed a mare to Alixir and not worry about any conformational flaws; you always get the structure. Rhapsody is extremely exotic and they were just magic together.” After Bellagio RCA, the mating was repeated several times and was almost always a hit. The full sister to Bellagio RCA, RSL Faith, is one of the best producing mares on the farm and her embryo rights consistently sell around the globe. Naer Taleb Moushtaha in Egypt owns a full brother Mirajh RCA. “I have seen a few of Mirajh’s foals in Egypt,” says Shawn, ”he is a heck of a sire.” Another brother, the bay stallion Qaysar Al Jood is owned by Mohammed Jaidah of Qatar. Full sister Rhapsodys Crescendaa is a bay mare owned by clients in Washington, and is a great producer. Lastly, the half brother (by The Elixir) is Amethyst Acres’s Magic Elixir who is a true ambassador, embodying the best of the breed. Pedigree aside, Bellagio RCA still needed to pass the test of the showring, something he did with flying colors on his first outing, winning unanimous Egyptian Breeders Challenge Colt ATH at the Egyptian Event. He followed it up the next year winning the Egyptian Event Junior Champion Colt unanimously. Bellagio RCA even tested his mettle in open competition at Scottsdale. “He was third in Scottsdale out of a 24 colt class,” says Shawn. “You know real quick when you are standing in a group like that if you are in or you are not. He was really in the hunt up top; he belonged.” After Scottsdale, they brought Bellagio RCA home and bred a couple mares. Unfortunately what had been so promising,
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T H E 2001 STA LLION TH E SE QUE L RCA ( THEE D ESPERAD O X L A MARSAL A BY THE MINSTRIL ).
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TO P: AR A B I A N S LT D . OW NER JU DY S I R B AS K U A N D M AN AG E R SH AW N C R EW S . B OT TO M : T HE 1 9 9 5 S TAL L I O N T H E E I N FI D E L ( T HE E D E S PE R A D O X B I N T M AG I D A A B Y * K H O FO ) .
then took a turn. Bellagio RCA colicked badly and was rushed to Texas A & M. There he was deemed to have colitis, and subsequently quarantined for three months. “He was just a train wreck by the time we got him back to the farm,” remembers Shawn. “We decided not to show him again, we were just happy he was home and alive. Then those first foals came, it was like, ‘oh my God!’ It made us forget about being disappointed about never showing him again.” “Breeding Bellagio RCA is so much like breeding Thee Desperado,” remarks Judy. “He is so darn consistent in putting his stamp on his get. They are just high quality foals that could go not just to the Egyptian Event, but to Vegas or Scottsdale. He is very prepotent, and there are just not a lot of stallions like that.” Bellagio RCA’s ability to sire open competitive horses was one compelling reason for opening a Scottsdale division of Arabians Ltd. in cooperation with Greg Knowles. “Greg will be heading up our efforts in Scottsdale at his Arabian Expressions facility,” explains Judy. “We have five horses that will be showing in February, including a special Bellagio colt, Lark RCA.” Two early fillies by Bellagio RCA have proved his breeding worth. Oruba Alrabie RCA (out of Bint Aliashahm RA by Thee Infidel), was Egyptian Breeders Challenge Champion Filly, and has since gone to Rabi Arabians in Palestine where she was National Champion Mare. The other is WCR Black Diamond (out of Black Pearl WP by Thee Desperado), who went to Chen Noff in Israel and produced a very promising colt. Other champions include Milagro TDA, a great colt out of the Thee Infidel daughter Lotus Sadiy that was sold to El Gamil Stud in Egypt and has had his share of winning. The filly Bella Mazin, out of another Thee Infidel daughter, Thee Lotus Mazin, was just the Egyptian Heritage Champion Mare at the Breeders Final in Scottsdale unanimously. That said, Amirah Gemaal DB is probably the most typical of the Bellagio RCA progeny. She is dark bay and very tall at 15.2. Amirah Gemaal DB was Egyptian Event Breeders Challenge Champion Yearling Filly and was Egyptian Event Bronze Champion Mare this year. All are proof that Bellagio RCA can linebreed back to Thee Desperado very well. Amazingly, all these Bellagio offspring originated from the Colthill Crescent breeding program. The homebred stallion Infinity RCA by Bellagio RCA has demonstrated another aspect of Bellagio’s siring ability. Infinity RCA showed so much athletic talent when he was young, Arabians Ltd. Marketing Director Adam Schwalm asked if he could start him under saddle. As Shawn explains, “Adam is a hell of a horseman, he can ride anything. He got Infinity going and we took him to a show in Dallas just for experience. This is the cradle of the finest western trainers in the country, and as I was watching him in the warm-up ring I saw one trainer after another turn their heads to notice him. Last year at the Egyptian Event, Tommy Garland kept asking for a price. Infinity looks amazing under saddle.” Adam and Infinity went on to win not only Junior Western Pleasure Championship but the open as well. Judy is especially proud of this performance aspect. “We think it is important to show that God meant horses to be ridden, not just run around the ring, chased with a bag,” says Judy with a laugh. “It is important to know that what we are breeding can be athletically sound and smart. “Adam and Infinity were a really good team. Our trainer Luis Paniagua showed him to Bronze Champion
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TO P : TH E 2009 STA LLION IN F IN IT Y RCA (BEL L AGIO RCA X KAMIL FA BY THEE INFID EL ). B OT TO M LE F T: A R A BIA N S LTD. M A R KETING D IRECTOR AD AM SCHWAL M ABOARD INFINIT Y RCA. B OT TOM R IGH T: A M IR A H GE M A A L DB (BEL L AGIO RCA X SIL KH SWA BY THEE INFID EL ), 2011 MARE, OWNED BY D REAMCO ARABIANS.
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T HE 2 0 1 2 S TAL L I O N SHA H M I S H AA L RC A (*M I S H AA L H P X B I N T A SIL A RC A B Y T H E S E QU E L RC A ) .
Colt the year before at the Event so he has won in halter and performance. Now we will pick some good mares for him.” With all of these exceptional attributes of a sire, it is even more remarkable when you consider Bellagio RCA’s color. “We don’t ever breed for color,” says Judy. “When we got Aliashahm, we thought she had come from a different stallion. We didn’t know genetically how she could be so black as both parents were grey. But the DNA was correct and it was our filly — just that rare chance.” It is a deep true black, though not homozygous, that Bellagio RCA does pass on. “Bellagio lives his life in the pasture,” says Judy. “We bring him in if it’s freezing cold or stormy, but other than that he is outside. We have several other blacks on the farm and by midsummer in Texas they all look brown. Bellagio’s color just never fades.” An outcross sire for the farm was imported *Mishaal HP whom Arabians Ltd. lost in 2013. “When the Mishaal daughters were old enough to breed, we used Desperado on all of them not knowing how much longer we would have Desperado,” says Judy. “I knew that I needed to take advantage of that. Bellagio had to wait for those mares. So that is the next step for our program,” explains Judy. Despite having also lost Thee Desperado in 2013, his influence continues to be a driving force at Arabians Ltd. Two sons in particular will carry the torch going forward. The Sequel RCA, was purchased “because he has more Desperado blood than Desperado,” says Shawn. The Sequel RCA is out of Thee Desperado’s full sister and was Reserve Supreme Champion Stallion at the Egyptian Event. “Judy bought him for the future long before she needed him. We are using Sequel on 70 percent of the Mishaal daughters and he is siring foals with huge black eyes.” The second Thee Desperado son, Pimlico RCA (out of Bint Bint Jamil), bred by Dara Meadows Farm, is the unanimous Region 9 and Egyptian Event Supreme Champion Stallion. He has that classic short face with tiny ears and tons of charisma, movement, tail carriage, and style — all of which are passed on to his foals. Another promising grey sire will play an important role for Arabians Ltd. “When we lost *Mishaal HP, we had a lot of Mishaal colts on the ground. We decided to take our time to pick out a colt to go on for his sire. We took a year and a half to methodically go through that process. We would have these mini horse shows,” Judy remembers with a chuckle. “All the guys on the farm would grab a colt and walk around the ring. In the end, it was really easy to tell, which one was best. Shah Mishaal RCA (out of Bint Asila RCA) always shined. He is really an exciting young colt and will carry on Mishaal’s blood in our breeding program.” Shah Mishaal RCA was Egyptian Event Champion Straight Egyptian Two-Year-Old Colt, so already has the show credentials. As has been noted, Bellagio RCA is crossing well with Thee Infidel daughters. The huge bay stallion just celebrated his 20th birthday. “Thee Infidel is such a joy to have, and he has the blood of Bint Magidaa so close,” explains Shawn. Bint Magidaa is full sister to Ruminaja Ali. “He reminds me so much of Ruminaja Ali, he just has that big imposing size — a super long, vertical neck, and he can trot like an English horse. His daughters are proving to be some of the best producers.” The stallion Kamal Ibn Adeed (*Al Adeed Al Shaqab x NF Bint Sahja), has been on lease from A & D Arabians in California. “We love him and are so pleased with the foals,” says Shawn. “The infusion of that blood was really important. Dennis Fournier is, bar
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TH E 1997 STA LLION PIM L ICO RCA ( THEE D ESPERAD O X BINT BINT JAMIL ).
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none, the finest person in the world to work with. It was just a joy to work together with this horse.” Ramses Mishaal Nadir (*Mishaal HP x Ramses Minx) is another stallion that had a successful stay at Arabians Ltd. “We are so thankful to Dr. Dietrick and Allison Mehta for allowing Nadir to be in our lives,” explains Judy. “We owe this stallion a great deal and are thrilled with his first foals.” Ramses Mishaal Nadir was recently sold to Alfiras Stud in Abu Dhabi. Thee Desperado and Arabians Ltd. have always been synonymous, not only in the Egyptian Arabian community, but the global Arabian industry. The torch of Thee Desperado is now passing on to his heirs. Impressively, Judy Sirbasku and Arabians Ltd. have not only succeeded in preserving this legacy for future generations, but have expanded the genetic pool while preserving the “Desperado traits” that are so beloved. Bellagio RCA and his stablemates are the first glimpse of this promise, ensuring a bright future for the breed. L EFT: THE 2009 STAL L ION KAMAL IBN ADE E D ( *A L AD EED AL SHAQAB X NF BINT SAJHA), WHO HA S BEEN ON L EASE FROM A & D ARABIANS, C A L I F OR N I A . BELOW: SHAWN CREWS, THIRD FROM L E F T, WI T H THE ARABIANS LTD . CREW AND THE MAR E BI N T L ADY SHAIKH ( THEE D ESPERAD O X L ADY S HA I KH) .
STAFF: STEPHANE & MELLISA ROBILLARD BREEDING/FARM MANAGER AND STUD BOOK MANAGER TARA MAUS CLIENT SERVICE MANAGER JENNA JOHNSON VET TECH LUIS PANIAGUA HEAD TRAINER
JUDY SIRBASKU, OWNER SHAWN CREWS, GENERAL MANAGER ADAM SCHWALM, MARKETING DIRECTOR · 214.714.7395 WACO, TX · 254.714.1803 · INFO@ARABIANSLTD.COM AFFILIATE FARM: COLTHILL CRESCENT ARABIANS 985.264.3250 · WWW.COLTHILLCRESCENT.COM AFFILIATE FARM: AMETHYST ACRES EQUINE CENTER, INC. 540.254.1017 · WWW.AMETHYSTACRES.COM ARABIANS, LTD · SCOTTSDALE DIVISION AT ARABIAN EXPRESSIONS GREG KNOWLES · 602.363.0003 · GREG@ARABIANEXPRESSIONS.COM