Pride of Dubai

By Dane McLeod/TTRAusNZ Zoustar, standing at Widden Stud, has been crowned Champion Australian General Sire for the first time. After finishing runner-up to I Am Invincible last season, the tables turned this year. Zoustar was represented by 198 individual winners of 335 races from 375 runners. His progeny earned A$26,318,590 in total prize-money, with 15 individual stakes winners winning a total of 23 stakes races. His standout performer, Joliestar, won the G1 Newmarket Handicap and G1 Kingsford Smith Cup, contributing a substantial A$2,813,500. I Am Invincible finished second with A$22,779,421,...

It may have come three days later than expected, but Dubai Honour (Ire) claimed his third Australian Group 1, and fourth of his career, in Tuesday's rescheduled Tancred Stakes at Rosehill. The seven-year-old has been a model of consistency for his owner Mohamed Obaida and trainer William Haggas. He's not only won nine times, but he has also been placed nine times, in top-class contests from Ascot to Sha Tin, accruing prize-money in excess of £4.5m. Dubai Honour's sire Pride Of Dubai (Aus), winner of the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes...

It's all about Camelot really, isn't it? Twelve years on and some of us are still not over him being denied the Triple Crown, but every new Group 1 winner he sires helps to ease the pain a little.  Though this column doesn't like to hear a word against him, it is fair to say that Camelot has his detractors. His latest Classic winner Los Angeles (Ire) doesn't look the most relaxed of horses but once the colt's mind is engaged in his primary job of galloping then it is...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Today's Observations features half-siblings to two Group 1 winners. 1.35 Lingfield, Nov, £5,300, 2yo, f, 7f 1y (AWT) Cheveley Park Stud's hitherto unraced DEGREE (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is a homebred half-sister to G1 Falmouth S. and G1 Sun Chariot S. heroine Integral (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}) out of G1 Matron...

Royal Applause (GB), a stalwart of the Royal Studs who has been retired from covering duties since 2014, has enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent years largely thanks to his son Acclamation (GB) and grandson Dark Angel (Ire). Numerically, Gutaifan (Ire) led the first-season sires' list last season and he is one of at least eight sons of Dark Angel at stud in Europe. In 2020, two of those will have their first runners, but it is a son of Dark Angel's sire Acclamation who is tipped for the...

Dual Group 1-winning juvenile Pride Of Dubai (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) has returned to the stable of trainers Peter and Paul Snowden after taking a winter spell. The Sheikh Khalifa bin Mohammed al Maktoum homebred broke his maiden in Victoria's most important 2-year-old race--the G1 Blue Diamond S.--in his third start, after which Coolmore bought into him. He was an eye-catching winner of the G1 Sires' Produce S. at The Championships Apr. 6 before being turned out. "This is his fourth week in from the paddock and he's come back in great...