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Juddmonte sires: past, present and future
Ciaran Doran examines how the Juddmonte pedigrees developed generations ago have influenced results this year and will do in future
ONE OF HORSERACING’S GREAT ALLURES is its indelible association with tradition. Equine culture and tradition manifest themselves in various ways; for example, one could point to the history of the Derby and its role in identifying future sires as per Federico Tesio’s most memorable quote.
Equally, one could highlight the pomp and circumstance of Royal Ascot as something somewhat anachronistic and yet something which not only endures but thrives in modern-day society.
Some traditions cannot endure indefinitely, however, prior to 2024, Juddmonte had never stood a stallion at Banstead Manor which had not been homebred.
That was before 2022 Dewhurst and 2023 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean (Frankel), who had been purchased by the farm at the Tattersalls December Foal Sales, entered the fray last winter.
The farm made use of this with the clever tagline in his promotion: “I wasn’t born at Juddmonte, but I got there as fast as I could”.
Juddmonte’s racehorses of today, who might well become the stallions of tomorrow, are for the most part the end-product of years and years of refined Juddmonte breeding
The fact that Juddmonte could adopt such a practice and yet still remain a huge player in both the racing and breeding games showcases just how successful their cultivation of female families has been.
Over time, families have been carefully curated in such a way that only mares hailing from a line of consistent producers remain within the Juddmonte ranks; modern-day families at Juddmonte did not emerge by accident but rather as a result of decadeslong design.
The horses who have raced in the famous green, white, and pink silks of Prince Khalid Abdullah are testament to the success of Juddmonte’s breeding nous.
For instance, the triumphs of Kingman (Invincible Spirit) as both a racehorse and sire are somewhat less surprising when one accounts for the fact that his Group 1-winning dam Zenda (Zamindar) was a half-sister to another top-class Juddmonte stalwart in Oasis Dream (Green Desert).
What’s more, Oasis Dream was himself out of a half-sister to Wemyss Bight (Dancing Brave), the 1993 Irish Oaks winner and also the dam of Beat Hollow (Sadler’s Wells), with sires such as New Bay (Dubawi), Court Cave (Sadler’s Wells), Martaline (Linamix), and Coastal Path (Halling) also part of the extended family.
Similarly, the exploits of Dansili (Danehill) as a sire make perfect sense when you consider that his dam Hasili (Kahyasi) was one of the defining broodmares of the last half-century producing multiple champions in the shape of Champs Elysees (Danehill), Banks Hill (Danehill), Intercontinental (Danehill), Cacique (Danehill), and Heat Haze (Green Desert).
Hasili was not the only Juddmonte broodmare to produce multiple future stallions though – sending Zaizafon (The Minstrel) to Gone West (Mr Prospector) yielded a Dewhurst and 2,000 Guineas winner in Zafonic and the sire of Zarkava in Zamindar.
In a way, Juddmonte’s culture of only standing homebreds at Banstead Manor (before Chaldean, that is) serves to form a “holy trinity” between their past, their present, and their future.
The Juddmonte stallions of today can by and large be traced back to Juddmonte horses from bygone days and, in a similar way, Juddmonte’s racehorses of today who might well become the stallions of tomorrow are for the most part the end-product of years and years of refined Juddmonte breeding.
Gold shines
When we watched horses such as the Juddmonte-purchased Field Of Gold (Kingman) and homebred Bluestocking (Camelot) in 2024, we are also at the same time watching Juddmonte’s past and Juddmonte’s future.
All the three timelines merge into one – we are able to witness what Juddmonte were, are, and will be all in the one go.
And there might not be a better representation of Juddmonte’s past, present, and future uniting than this year’s Ger Lyons-trained Group 3 winner Wendla (Ulysses).
Wendla’s dam, the aforementioned Intercontinental, won the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf from Ouija Board (Cape Cross) and with Hasili as a second dam Wendla’s black-type success ensures that the familial legacy of great Juddmonte sires such as Dansili still lives on.
Admittedly, confining the greatness of Dansili’s family to just Hasili’s offspring would do an immeasurable disservice to both Hasili and her equine antecedents.
Hasili also happens to be the second dam of Romantica (Galileo), and the fourth dam of Belbek (Showcasing).
Moreover, Hasili’s dam Kerali (High Line) was the second dam of both Leroidesanimaux (Candy Stripes) and Promising Lead (Danehill) and the third dam of Onesto (Frankel) and Quadrilateral (Frankel). Hasili’s second dam Sookera (Roberto) won the 1977 Cheveley Park; and her relatives also include Benbaun (Stravinsky) and So Factual (Known Fact).
Of course, it would be remiss not to note that Wendla was not the only Group-winning descendant of Hasili in 2024.
Lead Artist, a son of Dubawi (Dubai Millennium) and Obligate (Frankel), who is a daughter of Responsible, an Oasis Dream half-sibling to Dansili, won the Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes (G3) at Glorious Goodwood.
That said, Dansili was not the only elite Juddmonte sire to hail from an iconic Juddmonte family.
Kingman and Oasis Dream have both represented the green, white, and pink with distinction on the track and their exploits in the sheds are not to be sniffed at either.
The modern-day legacy of their family extends beyond just them though – the Group-placed Macduff (Sea The Stars) was out of the Bated Breath (Dansili) half-sister to Kingman.
Brothers in arms
Juddmonte’s most famous son Frankel has also been represented by equine relatives on the track this year – for instance, the Group 3 Jersey Stakes runner-up Kikkuli is a Kingman half-brother to Frankel (Galileo), while another half-sibling to Frankel in Joyeuse (Oasis Dream) is the dam of Jouncy (Wootton Bassett), who finished second in the Sirenia Stakes (G3), and the second dam of the maiden winner Jonquil (Lope De Vega).
The half-siblings Bated Breath and Cityscape (Selkirk) raced in the Juddmonte silks, with the former being a Banstead Manor resident ever since 2013.
As for their relations racing now – their dam Tantina (Distant View) is the second dam of the Gordon Richards Stakes (G3) winner Okeechobee (Time Test) and it is a line of the family that has achieved success at the highest level for Juddmonte in recent years, with Okeechobee’s dam Scuffle (Daylami) also being the dam of St Leger winner, Logician (Frankel).
The quality and depth of Zamindar and Zafonic’s pedigree can also be highlighted by the successes of other strands of the family such as Midday’s
A little bit further back Cityscape and Bated Breath’s second dam Didina (Nashwan) was also the fourth dam of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner, Unquestionable (Wootton Bassett).
Unquestionable might not have raced in the Juddmonte silks but Nightwalker (Frankel), third placed in the Group 3 Autumn Stakes, and the Dick Poole Stakes (L) winner Tabiti (Kingman) have –Nightwalker’s second dam is Scuffle whilst Didina is the second dam of Tabiti.
Lest we forget, this particular Juddmonte family is just one branch of one of racing’s greatest family trees – other Juddmonte relations include Xaar (Zafonic), Siskin (First Defence), Idiomatic (Curlin), and Whitebeam (Caravaggio), whilst El Gran Senor (Northern Dancer), Try My Best (Northern Dancer), Prosperous Voyage (Zoffany), Blush With Pride (Blushing Groom), Jazil (Seeking The Gold), Rags To Riches (AP Indy), Arcangelo (Arrogate), Spinning World (Nureyev), Peeping Dawn (Danehill), Domedriver (Indian Ridge), Almond Eye (Lord Kanaloa), and Albigna (Zoffany) are some of the stand-out members of an astonishing extended family.
Bated Breath and Cityscape aren’t even the most famous pair of brothers to represent Juddmonte, that honour really falls to the full-brothers Zafonic and Zamindar, who both stood at Banstead Manor.
As far as remaining in the pedigrees of top-class horses in the years to come, their legacy looks likely to remain intact, mainly through Wootton Bassett, who is a paternal grandson of Zafonic, and Zarak, who is a maternal grandson of Zamindar in (Dubawi).
Their impact is still felt in the Juddmonte ranks to this day though and no horse better showcases this than this year’s Phoenix Stakes (G1) winner Babouche (Kodiac).
A full-sister to Zarinsk, Babouche is a relation to Zamindar and Zafonic via Zaizafon who is her fourth dam; Zaizafon was also the third dam of another Group 1-winning Juddmonte graduate in Announce (Selkirk).
The quality and depth of Zamindar and Zafonic’s family can also be highlighted by the successes of other strands of the family such as Midday’s.
Pedigree-wise, Midday (Oasis Dream) is connected to Zafonic and Zamindar via her third dam Mofida (Right Tack), who was also the dam of Zaizafon.
Today Midday’s contributions to racing manifests itself in the form of her daughter Indelible (Shamardal) although her side of the family is also represented through Swelter (Kingman) who is out of the Pivotal half-sister to Midday.
In addition, Indelible’s third dam Modena (Roberto) was the dam of the Group 1 Eclipse winner and champion Elmaamul (Diesis) and the Oaks heroine Reams Of Verse (Nureyev) and the family also extends to the likes of the King’s Stand Stakes (G1) winner Prohibit (Oasis Dream) and Regal Parade (Pivotal), winner of the Prix Maurice de Gheest.
Juddmonte’s stand-out families don’t end there though – the second dam of Twice Over (Observatory), Quandary (Blushing Groom) was also the second dam of Passage Of Time (Dansili) and therefore the third dam of Time Test (Dubawi).
This September’s Group 3 winner Time Lock (Frankel) can trace her origin to this particular family – her dam Time Chaser (Dubawi) was a daughter of Passage Of Time.
Aside from both shedding their maiden tags at Sandown this year, the Juddmonte- owned and bred pair of Siyola (Siyouni) and Cosmic Year (Kingman) also happen to descend from the exact same family with Quandary being the third dam of Siyola, while Cosmic Year is a half-brother to Time Test.
Neither Twice Over or Time Test ever stood at Banstead Manor and while other sires may have started off their stallion life there, staying on the farm indefinitely is by no means guaranteed as Dancing Brave’s stallion career trajectory proves
One of the all-time great racehorses, Dancing Brave’s performances in the sheds did not quite match up to his achievements on the track although his exile to Japan ironically coincided with his son Commander In Chief winning the 1993 Derby for Juddmonte.
An occasional outside family
But there are still traces of Dancing Brave’s family around.
Brave Mission (Frankel) displayed a taking turn of foot to win a Kempton maiden in September. To have such tactical speed is less of a surprise once you realise that his fourth dam Navajo Princess was also the dam of Dancing Brave and 1992 Prix de Diane winner Jolypha (Lyphard).
Some Juddmonte horses may not be related to sires at Banstead Manor but still come from deep Juddmonte families.
Bluestocking’s dam Emulous (Dansili) was a Matron Stakes (G1) winner in the Juddmonte silks, Emulous’s dam Aspiring Diva (Distant View) is also the third dam of a US-based Juddmonte sire in Mandaloun (Into Mischief).
Going back further, Bluestocking is related to other Juddmonte graduates such as Camacho (Danehill), Showcasing (Oasis Dream) and the 1993 Cheveley Park Stakes winner Prophecy (Warning).
The likes of the Moyglare Stakes (G1) fourth-placed Red Letter (Frankel) and Task Force (Frankel), third in this year’s Joel Stakes (G3), are distant relations of Expert Eye (Acclamation) via their fourth dam Nijinsky Star (Nijinsky).
We shouldn’t forget either that Task Force’s dam is another Juddmonte champion – the 1,000 Guineas victor Special Duty (Hennessy).
Not all Juddmonte horses come from out-and-out Juddmonte families though
Additionally, this year’s Legacy Stakes (L) runner-up Revoke (Blue Point) is a close cousin of Famous Name (Dansili), while the British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes (G1) winner Kalpana (Study Of Man) comes from the same family as Zambezi Sun (Dansili) and Byword (Peintre Celebre).
Not all Juddmonte horses come from outand-out Juddmonte families though.
The Beresford Stales (G2) runnerup Windlord (Dubawi) is a grandson of the Wertheimers’s star mare Goldikova (Anabaa), while the Listed winner and Group 3 placed Skellet (Kingman) is from the family of Sholokhov (Sadler’s Wells), Affinisea (Sea The Stars), Soldier Of Fortune (Galileo), Subjectivist (Teofilo), and Marhaba Ya Sanafi (Muhaarar).
The Solario winner Field Of Gold is another Juddmonte horse to come from somewhat of an untraditional background with his stand-out relations including Serena’s Song (Rahy), Zabeel Prince (Lope De Vega), and Rizeena (Iffraaj).
On the whole, however, these horses mark the exception to the rule rather than the rule itself, which is that, by and large, Juddmonte horses and sires are the result of decades of masterfully managed breeding.
Juddmonte has made maintaining successful families look easy but au contraire, such a task is anything but; only the breeding operations of the Aga Khan can come close to rivalling Juddmonte in terms of the ability to carefully safeguard families from one generation to the next.
And given Juddmonte’s rich tradition, we can safely say that watching Juddmonte horses strut their stuff on the course gives us a glimpse into Juddmonte sires from the past, present, and future.
So on that note, who’s to say this year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) winner and the now-retired Bluestocking won’t be the next Hasili?
