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September 2024 THIS MONTH MORE BISCAY SONS FRESHMAN STALLIONS FOR 2024
fifth in the Epsom Derby behind Wings Of Eagles, Cliffs Of Moher and Cracksman coming from eighteenth entering the straight to finish just over three lengths from the winner. He then went to Ascot to win the Group 3 Hampton Court Stakes over 2000m beating Orderofthegarter who was later to be sold to Australian interests and won the Group 3 MRC Foundation Cup at Caulfield in 2020. Benbatl then finished fifth against the older horses in the Group 1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes won by the star, Enable. He then went back to the mile where he was sixth in the Group 3 Superior Mile Stakes at Haydock to bring to a close his 3yo season.
As a 4yo, Benbatl started his campaign in the UAE, winning the Group 3 Singspiel Stakes over 1800m on grass. He then won the Group 2 Al Rashidiya over the same course and distance, before running second behind Blair House in the Group 1 Jebel Hatta. At the end of March 2018, he won his first Group 1 in the Dubai Turf, recording a career high rating of 124. He beat an international field that included Japan’s Real Steel and the US horse, War Decree that both had time at stud in Australia. After a break, Benbatl returned to England to run tenth in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes over a mile before winning the Group 1 Grosser Dallmayr Preis - Bayerisches Zuchtrennen over 2000m in Germany. He returned to York to run unplaced in the Juddmonte International Stakes behind Roaring Lion. Benbatl then travelled to Australia to win the Group 1 Ladbrokes Stakes over 2000m at Caulfield beating the other Godolphin runner in Blair House with Humidor in third. Next up it was a tilt at the Cox Plate, but he found the champion mare Winx too good, running second beaten by two lengths but still an impressive enough run to equal his 124 rating.
Benbatl returned to the UK and it was almost a year before he returned to racing. First up he won the Group 2 Shadwell Joel Stakes at Newmarket beating King Of Comedy who is at stud in NZ. He again equalled his 124 rating over the mile journey. Three weeks later he was eased up being unsuited to the heavy ground in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes won by King Of Change. Benbatl showed that he took no lingering harm from the run by returning to the UAE in January 2020, for his first start as a 6yo. He won the Group 2 Singspiel Stakes followed by the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge at his first start on the dirt over 2100m. He then ran third again on dirt in the Saudi Cup at Riyadh behind two US horses in Maximum Security and Midnight Bisou. He had only one more start that season, back in the UK in September where he finished third behind Kameko in the Shadwell Joel Stakes at Newmarket. It was to be almost a year before Benbatl raced again and he resumed with a second in the Group 2 Celebration Mile at Goodwood. He then won the Joel Stakes at Newmarket before having his final start, pulling up quickly when ninth of ten in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. In all, Benbatl retired with 11 wins from 25 starts and almost £6 million in earnings. He was certainly an outstanding racehorse, although if one wanted to compare him to many stallions in the modern era, the argument could be raised that he had more starts than many successful stallions. It is hard to imagine though that 25 starts in a career that lasted from
the ages of three until seven could be seen as the stallion was over-raced. Still, it may have been more commercially prudent to have retired him after his run in the Cox Plate, certainly in terms of his Australian appeal. However, had connections done that, he would never have won stakes races on the dirt which certainly will have boosted his appeal to Japanese and US buyers. This argument though has been ongoing since at least the 1960’s locally and facilitated by the emergence of the Golden Slipper as a showpiece of Australian racing. The success of Benbatl would go at least some way of reminding breeders that it is more likely that stallions are retired too early than too late.
The stallion is a son of the famed sire Dubawi who Darley claim is the most successful stallion ever to stand in the UK. No matter if this claim is a little of a stretch, there is no doubt that Dubawi is one of the modern greats and he commands a fee that if you need to ask, you almost certainly could not afford. He has sired over 250 stakes winners world-wide and remarkably, Benbatl is the third top stakes earner for his stallion, well ahead of stallions like Too Darn Hot, Ghaiyyath and Night Of Thunder. If anyone was ever to try and challenge the quality of Benbatl as a racehorse, they only need to look at this statistic to see that he is in rarefied air as a stallion prospect in terms of what he achieved on the track. Dubawi is a son of the legendary Dubai Millenium, who sadly met with an untimely death. The stallion that many argue was the greatest racehorse of all time, was poised to make a similar mark in the breeding barn before being euthanised after being diagnosed with the almost certainly fatal “grass sickness.” He was tragically to produce only one crop of foals but among those was Dubawi and Makfi. Dubai Millenium was a son of Seeking The Gold by Mr Prospector which means that he is something a little rare in Australia currently in that his sire line does not trace to Northern Dancer. Seeking The Gold won eight of his fifteen starts and over US$2 million in stakes. He was bred by Ogden Phipps who owned Claiborne Farm and that is where the Grade 1 winning colt was retired to stud. In Australia, he is perhaps best known as the sire of Ustinov, the son of Let’s Elope who won the 2001 AAMI Vase, and Secret Savings who won the 1997 Doncaster. Both were to go on to stallion careers with Ustinov siring five stakes winners but was not in the class of Secret Savings who was to sire the likes of Dash For Cash, Swiss Ace, Madame Pedrille and Shamekha.
The dam of Benbatl is Nahrain by Selkirk who was the champion 3yo filly of her crop in Great Britain in the longer category. She commenced racing as a 3yo, winning her first four starts culminating in the Group 1 Prix De L’Opera at Longchamp. Nahrain then travelled to the US where she was second, beaten threequarters of a length in the Grade 1 Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Churchill Downs. As a 4yo she was also to win the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes at Belmont Park, again on turf. At stud, Nahrain has proved to be a very valuable commodity, producing not only Benbatl but also Elmalka by Kingsman who won the Group 1 One Thousand Guineas and Fooraat, a full sister to Benbatl who was placed in Listed races on three occasions. Perhaps significantly, both were winners at two.
Selkirk, the sire of Nahrain, was a quality racehorse and stallion, winning the time-honoured Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at three, and finishing third in that race the following year. At stud, he was a good source of winners and produced 18 stakes winners. He was a son of the outstanding Sharpen Up who we see present in a range of pedigrees, and will no doubt play a role in the future of Benbatl. Among
the best sons of Sharpen Up are Diesis, Kris, Sharpo and Tremolino who all had good careers at stud. The second dam of Benbatl is the Group 2 winner, Bahr by Generous, who was also placed twice at Group 1 level in the Belmont Flower Bowl Handicap and Irish Oaks. She was also to produce the stakes winner Baharah by Elusive Quality. Her dam in turn was Lady Of The Sea by Mill Reef.
The pedigree of Benbatl shows relatively little inbreeding with a Hardiman’s Coefficient of Inbreeding of 5.08% within six generations. The closest duplication is that of Mill Reef who appears as a 5mx4f cross through Shirley Heights and Lady Of The Sea. We noted that Dubai Millenium traced to Native Dancer through his sire line, and that stallion is duplicated through his sons Raise A Native and Atan through both sire lines. The other duplication we see is that of Northern Dancer who appears through three sons in Shareef Dancer, Lyphard and Nijinsky II. A few additional notes on the pedigree of Benbatl show that there is the presence of some remarkable broodmares who we know well in Australia. Dubai Millenium traces to the mare, Fall Aspen, while Dubawi’s damsire traces to a mare called Where You Lead who was a wonderful broodmare from an outstanding stallion family that left the likes of Scenic who made his mark in Australia. Interestingly, we see that Where You Lead’s dam, Noblesse is by Mossborough who is from the same female family as Sir Tristram. In the female line of Dubawi, we also see a stallion called High Line who is a grandson of Hyperion. We often forget that Hyperion appears in the female line of Danehill through His Majesty. In the pedigree of Sharpen Up in Benbatl’s female line, we see an interesting stallion in Rockefella, a son of Hyperion who appears in the pedigrees of local champions like Sunline and Kingston Town. His damsire was Felstead, a son of Spion Kop who had such an influence in Australia and was notably a son of the great Spearmint who in turn was a son of Carbine. Felstead incidentally can be seen in the female line of Danzig which may become important into the future. Again, in the female line of Benbatl we see the presence of a mare called Russ-Marie through Generous. Russ-Marie we see in the female line of the wonderful Queensland horse, Brave Warrior, the sire of Show A Heart. With such wonderful influences mixed with Benbatl’s pedigree, it must surely give us ideas as to what mares may best suit the stallion.
The success of most Australian stallions is currently determined by how well they fare with Danehill line stallions, and no doubt Benbatl will need to achieve success with these mares if he is to achieve long term success. As we have mentioned, the presence of Hyperion in both Benbatl and Danehill could well be advantageous but considering how prevalent that stallion is in modern pedigrees, it is unlikely to be a critical factor. Quite surprisingly, Dubawi has not had outstanding success with Danehill line mares. He has produced four stakes winners to date from daughters of Danehill, but interestingly has had nine stakes winners from mares by Danehill’s son, Dansili. By far Dubawi’s best success has come through daughters of Galileo. Galileo is a son of Sadler’s Wells, yet surprisingly his results with that stallion are not up to other broodmare sires. One must remember that in the Northern Hemisphere, the rivalry between Coolmore and Darley is more pronounced. Each one’s stallions are less likely to cover mares by their rival’s stallions. The Australian market seems much more diverse in terms of opportunity so in some ways we can be misled by overseas results. With that in mind, we can return to Benbatyl’s potential with Danehill line mares with a new focus, and that is the legacy of brilliant and classic types that Danehill has produced in Australia. In fact, it is this type of mare that I believe will give the best result with Benbatyl. We must remember that Dubawi did shuttle to Australia for three seasons. His results here were hardly reflective of those he has achieved in the Northern Hemisphere. The best of his local runners were the siblings, Tiger Tees and Ball Of Muscle, both out of a Gold Brose mare, Catkins who was out of a Catbird mare, and Srikandi from a Hurricane Sky mare. As we can see, all of these would be considered to be speedier type mares than those that he has regularly had success with overseas. This is clearly not a surprise seeing as our industry is far more speed focussed than in other parts.
While sons of Danehill like Catbird no longer have many breeding daughters, these were replaced by a new generation of Danehill stars. None was bigger than Redoute’s Choice, and I suspect that mares carrying this stallion may have an affinity with Benbatl. We see the presence of a female line of the great Nijinsky II in the pedigree of Redoute’s Choice to balance the male line in Benbatl. This will extend to sons of Redoute’s Choice like Snitzel, Not A Single Doubt, Scissor Kick, and The Autumn Sun. We can likely extend this to the emerging sons of Snitzel and Not A Single Doubt that include Shamus Award and Extreme Choice. Other sons of Danehill are certainly also in the mix including the likes of Fastnet Rock and Exceed And Excel. Fastnet Rock may need more caution in that he carries a male line of Nijinsky II, and all male duplications of that stallion can sometimes be problematic. Another interesting son of Danehill is Flying Spur, and although he does not have many daughters still breeding, his grandson, All Too Hard might fit the bill. Naturally, each mare will have their own female line, and this is where we must ensure that we sufficiently consider other influences that could negatively impact a mating with Benbatyl. In particular, it is families and stallions that have proven themselves with quality winners over 1600m-2000m that are most likely to succeed with Benbatyl.
This brings us to the speed sires that are dominant in the commercial market. It is hard to go past Written Tycoon as an example seeing as he stood for a time at Woodside Park, and no doubt Benbatyl will have access to some of his daughters and granddaughters. While the presence of Last Tycoon, who incidentally is exactly the type of stallion that we are suggesting will suit Benbatyl as a true “Classic” style sire, Written Tycoon imparts little by himself apart from speed lines. While that can have advantage in some cases, with Benbatl caution should again be used to ensure that his daughters also carr y significant classic influences. Talk of classic influences of course leads us to Zabeel and his presence in a pedigree may well be ideal for Benbatl. This will extend even most likely to his great grandson in Pierro who interestingly also carries Mill Reef and Shirley Heights in his pedigree. As most of the Zabeel line mares will carry a line of Danehill, and often multiple lines of that stallion, each individual mare will need to be assessed as to their compatibility. We can however say that a wide range of Australian bloodlines look like they will suit the stallion.
Madame Pedrille who we noted was a stakes winning daughter of Secret Savings is from the female family that was to give us the top stallion, I Am Invincible. He is a stallion that might play an important role in the success or otherwise of Benbatl even if he is another predominantly speed line stallion. While there is certainly some interesting interaction between the pedigree of I Am Invincible and that of Benbatl, the success or otherwise of these speed lines lay with the remainder of the pedigree. We would need to see again those strong classic lines included to be confident that the resultant mating was likely to produce a quality runner.
This of course brings us to the international lines, which are becoming more prevalent. We see stallions like Galileo, Camelot and High Chaparral having daughters in Australia, and also granddaughters. The concern with many of these is that they will carry too much stamina to succeed with Benbatl who himself carries his share of stamina lines. While many will argue of the need to breed stayers in Australia, many confuse the importance of balancing stamina with speed and classic lines. In the case of Benbatl, even if we are trying to breed a staying type, which no doubt will be possible, it is the fast stayer that we are looking for rather than the slow maturing type that will not start until they are four. In fact, it is those strong speed and classic balance that will be essential for success with Benbatl wherever they are found.
There is no getting away from the fact that Benbatl will be compared to the Darley stallion in Too Darn Hot who has had a good start in Australia largely through the performance of Broadsiding who came to the fore during the Autumn. While his fee has risen from $44,000 to $110,000 this season, it will likely assist Benbatl as he will appear as an economical option for broodmare owners that might not be able to afford the fee hike. More importantly though, the performance of Too Darn Hot, with a particular focus on the pedigree of Broadsiding, might give us some further clues to what lines could work with Benbatl. Too Darn Hot is from a Singspiel mare, with Singspiel being a grandson of Sadler’s Wells. The pedigree of Broadsiding reinforces exactly the type of mare that we were suggesting will suit Benbatl. Broadsiding sees his first three damsires as Street Cry, Redoute’s Choice and Zabeel. All three stallions were largely that classic type of stallion that we have spoken about at length. If we delve a little further into the female family of Broadsiding, it has been in Australasia for around 100 years and includes a mare called Gold Hope by John’s Hope. John’s Hope by Wilkes won the 1972 Golden Slipper and Blue Diamond, and Gold Hope was able to win seven stakes races including the All-Aged Stakes and Doncaster Handicap. Again, the presence of colonial speed back in the pedigree to balance the more classic nature of the more recent family has certainly produced an outstanding 2yo, even if he was not a Golden Slipper type. Nonetheless, the results of Broadsiding gives confidence that the Dubawi sire line can do well locally, and one would expect the results to improve through the 3yo season.
Benbatl is clearly an outstanding stallion prospect and he looks to suit potentially quite a large portion of the Australian broodmare population. He is not likely to be the source of precocious 2yo’s which will have an impact on his future, but he should be able to produce a range of versatile runners. We would expect them to improve as races increase in length and also as his progeny age, with an aim to breed progeny who will be competitive in the 3yo mile races and beyond. That is not to say that some of his progeny will not perform outside of this range, only that it is more likely that most will fit this mould. The stallion if given the support of good numbers of compatible mares should be a valuable addition to the Victorian thoroughbred industry.
