Pedigree pointers for big weekend at Meydan

1.15pm – Group 3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint

Al Dasim (Harry Angel x Dance Hall Girl by Dansili)

In the end, for a young stallion, only one thing counts and that’s winners.

Climbing the heights of the sales ring and bragging about the biggest book will win the right press, but winners are the bread and butter of the game and the higher the quality the better.

After winning the G2 Mill Reef in just two starts, expectations were high for 3-year-old champion sprinter Harry Angel’s first cubs last year. Twenty-seven winners, only one of whom managed to win a bet, it’s fair to say he fell just short of those expectations.

A listed winner from 102 race-age foals from the Northern Hemisphere could be considered disappointing in an unforgiving market even before his first three-year-olds had a chance. Although there are some that have been promising and showing promise, for the second crop sire those promises must be fulfilled.

Group 3 Al Dasim, favorite of Nad Al Sheba, could be the one to give the two-time Group 1 winners the perfect start.

Three could be the magic number for the three-year-old stallion, who is aiming for his fifth consecutive win and his third at Meydan in 2023. Rookie coach George Boughey is the third coach to embark on his career and by all accounts, looking happy after the third time.

Al Dasim, placed in two starts for Clive Cox, added a first win to his career when he joined Kevin Philippart De Foy, but it was a move from Newmarket to Boughey that seems to have lit his flame. Al Dasim easily mastered two modest rookie events and ventured into the company of the Conditions on his Meydan debut.

A second win in easy conditions took his rating to a recent high of 106, just two pounds shy of his top rated competitor here, Miqyaas (Oasis Dream). Given the £10 old-age allowance he’s receiving, according to official figures, he’s entitled to be in the thick of it.

However, taking on bigger, stronger, and more experienced sprinters is no easy feat. His sire Harry Angel went from youth winner of Group Two to champion, competing against older horses in the July Cup and Haydock Sprint Cup. Al Dasim doesn’t need to improve that much to win here, but any improvement could prove just as important for his young father’s second career.

2.25pm ​​– Group 1 Round 3 Al Maktoum Challenge

Bendoog (Gun Runner x Nellie Cashman by Mineshaft)

Amid a field of seasoned performers and group winners, a colt lurks at the level of a stallion on a stratospheric ascent to the upper echelons of the global stallion lines.

Bendoog (Gun Runner) is a rare Gun Runner son racing outside of America, such is the demand for his stock. Gun Runner began life on a $70,000 fee after a scintillating five-year season with a streak of four straight Grade Ones, culminating in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

He bowed out with pleasant success at Pegasus the following January and began stud service that same year with six grade one wins and earnings of $15,988,500. After a rare feat of six individual Grade One winners from his first crop alone, his stud fee for 2023 is rightly listed as Private, and anyone wanting to get their hands on a Gun Runner has their work to do .

Bendoog descends from Grade 3 winner Nellie Cashman, who is by Eclipse Award winner Mineshaft, a well-behaved stallion whose career unfortunately took a slightly opposite turn to Gun Runner.

The four-time Grade One winner, who retired for $100,000, represents a fraction of that at $10,000 for 2023. As might be expected, his daughters have made a promising start to their broodmare careers with a six-figure opening fee, and Bendoog is credited in the role of becoming Mineshaft’s fourth Top League winner, nineteenth Graded winner and fifty-fourth Stakes winner – a superb batting average 4% Stakes Winner for Race Age Foals.

Though Bendoog is yet to win any appearances, he complemented his little black type with a respectable second place finish behind coveted Dubai World Cup contenders Algiers (Shamardal).

The natural progression of this improved performance should put him in the right mix here. While it’s worrying he’s yet to earn Big Black Guy, his father, Gun Runner, blossomed as a four-year-old, and the same can be said of his grandfather, Mineshaft.

If Bendoog can take on such an experienced field, if Bendoog can make his burgeoning sire seven top-level winners from his first crop, Gun Runner will set records that place him among the greatest of all time from his first crop.

3.45pm – Group 1 Jebel Hatta Stakes

Masters of the Seas (Dubawi x Firth Of Lorne by Danehill)

Later on the card, the enigma, the Master Of The Seas (Dubawi), runner-up to Guineas in 2000, is bidding to become the inaugural Group 1 winner of the 2023 Carnival of its newly crowned champion Sire.

Favored after a gratifying return to action in the G2 Zabeel Mile, the notoriously strong Traveler has settled in beautifully on his five-year debut and first start in almost a year. Master Of The Seas’ only start as a four-year-old was that 1m1f trip in the G3 Earl Of Sefton Stakes, and it was a win despite traveling with his usual exuberance.

In Group 1 enterprise he must ride in the same measured style he opened in 2023 and aside from the extended journey there is no reason to doubt him.

After a superb start to the week for his dam Firth Of Lorne (Danehill) who added winning debutant Sithchean (Dark Angel) to her achievements as a broodmare, a first Group One would be a well deserved addition to their now ten esteemed winners.

Among them is UAE Oaks winner Falls Of Lora (Street Cry) who has bred two G1 winners. Cascadian (New Approach) is a double G1 scorer with earnings in excess of AUD5 million, while Albahr (Dubawi) is another son of the champion sire who had his top win at Woodbine in the Summer Stakes.

Firth Of Lorne himself was second in the French 1000 Guineas behind none other than Zenda (Zamindar), the dam of another arguably unlucky runner-up in the 2000 Guineas – Kingman (Invincible Spirit).

While charming anecdotes like these give no indication of what will happen after time, they serve as a timely reminder of the crucial role the Classics play in the breed’s preservation.

While the careers of Kingman and Master Of The Seas have taken vastly different paths, very few would begrudge the Group 1 recognition of this likeable gelding, whose consistent racing record suggests his only downfall seems to be his overwhelming enthusiasm for racing .

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