The Dubawi effect
After a big weekend for Dubawi, By The Numbers tracks the ongoing influence of one of the world’s leading stallions in Australia and New Zealand.
In the space of 70 minutes at the Curragh on Sunday, the extraordinary influence and versatility of Dubawi (Dubai Millennium) was there for the thoroughbred world to appreciate.
Not only did the Darley champion sire a Group 1 double with the wins of Henry Longfellow in the National Stakes (Gr 1, 7f) and Eldar Eldarov in the Irish St Leger (Gr 1, 1m 6f), but his son Too Darn Hot secured his first elite success thanks to Fallen Angel in the Moyglare Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 7f).
It was the seventh time that Dubawi had sired a Group 1 double on a single day, but just the third occasion – the other two were at Breeders’ Cup meetings – where both have occurred at the same track.
While Dubawi may have been a champion sire in Great Britain and Ireland last year, the Group 1 wins were his first as a sire in Ireland since 2018, when Quarto won the 2018 National Stakes. That is somewhat of an exception in his global record where, since the start of 2022, Group 1 winners in eight different countries have been sired by him.
Meanwhile Too Darn Hot, whose first northern hemisphere crop hit the track in 2023, and who already has 14 winners and three stakes winners to his name, became the eighth son of Dubawi to sire a Group 1 winner.
In an Australasian context, there is hope that Too Darn Hot, whose first Australian-conceived crop begin racing this season, will provide a longer-term influence than his own sire and some other notable sire sons.
Dubawi had just three seasons at Darley in Australia, shuttling in 2006, 2008 and 2009. From the 188 runners from those crops, 22 won stakes races, with six Group 1 winners among that collection. Unfortunately for the local stallion ranks, only one of those six elite winners was a colt, and that was in South Africa.
That horse, Willow Magic, stands at Blue Sky Thoroughbreds in South Africa, and has been a Grade 1 producer, while Dubawi’s only other Australian-bred son to stand at stud has been Wilful Default, who has just 12 winners to his credit.
Record of Dubawi’s progeny by hemisphere
| Where foaled | Runners | Winners | SWs | G1w |
| SH-bred | 188 | 149 | 22 | 6 |
| NH-bred | 1425 | 1079 | 239 | 49 |
Dubawi’s two best-performed sire sons have both spent time shuttling to Australia or New Zealand but like their sire, did not have extended stays.
Makfi spent five seasons at Westbury Stud and from those crops produced 21 stakes winners, including Group 1 winners Bonneval, Sofia Rosa and Marky Mark, before being sold to Japan.
Night Of Thunder made a significant mark with just one crop from his time at Darley Australia. That crop yielded 51 foals and 46 runners, from which emerged five stakes winners, including Group 1 winner Kukeracha.
Night Of Thunder’s stunning run of success in the northern hemisphere, which features 33 stakes winners, including two Group 1 winners, from just 203 runners, has meant he never returned to Australia, although he has proven a popular option for those willing to send mares overseas for southern hemisphere covers.
Poet’s Voice is another son of Dubawi whose stay in Australia for Darley was relatively short, five seasons in all, from which he produced 168 winners from 268 runners. There were five stakes winners in that Australian-bred cohort, including Group 1 winner Trap For Fools.
Group 1-producing sons of Dubawi
| Stallion | Runners | Winners | SWs | G1w |
| Makfi | 929 | 618 | 43 | 5 |
| Night of Thunder | 364 | 243 | 38 | 3 |
| New Bay | 210 | 121 | 10 | 3 |
| Poet’s Voice | 748 | 489 | 23 | 2 |
| Zarak | 136 | 90 | 14 | 1 |
| Too Darn Hot | 43 | 14 | 3 | 1 |
| Al Kazeem | 81 | 46 | 4 | 1 |
| Willow Magic | 115 | 44 | 1 | 1 |
There are five active sons on Dubawi on an Australasian roster in 2023, a list headed by Too Darn Hot, who entered his fourth season at a fee of $44,000.
He is joined at Darley Australia by Dubawi’s champion son Ghaiyyath, who has stood in Victoria for the past two seasons, with his oldest crop now yearlings.
Hong Kong star Akeed Mofeed, based at Cornerstone Stud, has produced 127 winners since commencing stud duties in 2014, including three stakes winners, while Wilful Default, who is stood by the Prest family, completes the Australian contingent.
Little Avondale Stud’s son of Dubawi, Time Test, has been making an impression with his third NZ-conceived crop about to hit the track. His first two crops have yielded 27 winners from 68 runners, including Listed winner Leedox.
Sons of Dubawi active in Australia/New Zealand in 2023
| Stallion | Stud | Fee |
| Too Darn Hot | Darley Australia – NSW | $44,000 |
| Ghaiyyath | Darley Australia – Vic | $27,500 |
| Time Test | Little Avondale Stud | NZ$10,000 (+ gst) |
| Akeed Mofeed | Cornerstone Stud | $8,800 |
| Wilful Default | Debbie Prest | POA |
Makfi’s legacy in New Zealand is carried on by his son Savile Row at Mapperley Stud and his first crop featured five winners from 12 runners, while the other active Australasian stallion with Dubawi in his pedigree is Scorpz (Charm Spirit), who is out of a daughter of Dubawi and whose first crop from his base at Victoria’s Platinum Thoroughbreds have recently turned two.
Dubawi’s influence is poised to grow in coming seasons, with Militarize (Dundeel), who is out of British-bred Dubawi mare Amerindia, winning both the Inglis Sires’ (Gr 1, 1400m) and Champagne Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) in the autumn.
On those performances alone, and with further Group 1 features in his sights this spring, the Chris Waller-trained colt looks destined for a future stud career at Newgate, which holds a majority ownership.
Irish-bred Without A Fight (Teofilo), who this May won The Q22 (Gr 2, 2200m) for Anthony and Sam Freedman, is another horse out of a daughter of Dubawi, who has been set for major Group 1 assignments in Australia this spring.
Going back to the Curragh, and what was significant about Henry Longfellow’s win is that it is the first Group 1 success for Aidan O’Brien with a son or daughter of Dubawi. When you consider that O’Brien has had over 400 Group 1 wins, and Dubawi has 55 Group 1 winners, it’s remarkable that those two subsets of success have never overlapped.
However, with Dubawi being a Darley-based sire, O’Brien has had relatively few opportunities with his progeny. Just 17 individual horses by Dubawi have come through Ballydoyle in his time.
Henry Longfellow, now a winner of all three of his starts, was bred by Coolmore and is out of their seven-time Group 1-winning mare Minding (Galileo).
The combination of Dubawi with Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) mares has already produced 12 stakes winners from 93 runners, including Group 1-winning Darley stallions Night Of Thunder and Ghaiyyath. As well as Henry Longfellow, O’Brien has trained two other stakes winners, Concert Hall and San Antonio, who are by Dubawi out of Galileo mares.
From an Australian perspective, history suggests that there is a strong possibility that Henry Longfellow could be part of a future roster at Coolmore Australia.
Sunday’s victory in the National Stakes was O’Brien’s first in the race since Churchill (Galileo) in 2016. That colt would later shuttle to Coolmore Australia as a stallion, as would Air Force Blue (War Front), who won the race the previous year.
With a relative lack of Dubawi-line stallions in Australia and the sireline’s success with a wide range of broodmare bloodlines available in this part of the world, it may prove too good an opportunity for him not to make the trip.