With two of the Blue Diamond Stud broodmares having produced European Classic winners last season, there is much to look forward to at the Newmarket farm, including a full-sibling to the Prix de Diane and Nassau S. winner Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Stud owner Imad Al Sagar is also branching out by buying some new blood in America, and he talks us through his mating plans for 2023.
ABSCOND (m 6, Blame–Solitary Life, by Grand Slam), booked to Not This Time
We were keen to invest in a Roberto-line mare, especially one by Blame given his early success as a broodmare sire. We bought Abscond in November, and as a Grade I-winning 2-year-old from an excellent family that descends from Delta, we feel she is a wonderful addition. We have been watching Not This Time for a while and what he has already achieved with lesser expensive crops is obviously very impressive. He is a beautiful looking horse who has already worked well with the Arch line as well as Gone West and Known Fact, both of which are also in Abscond's background. He's also versatile regarding dirt and turf, something that we also thought would complement Abscond.
ANGLE OF ATTACK (m 6, Maclean's Music–Bourbon Warfare, by Colonel John), foaled a filly by Bolt d'Oro; booked to Bolt d'Oro
Another Kentucky-based mare and one of two we're sending to Bolt d'Oro, alongside New Jazz (a winning daughter of Scat Daddy). Angle Of Attack was a high-class, tough, stakes-winning mare who we bought in November carrying to Bolt d'Oro. Bolt d'Oro already has some impressive statistics backed up by a volume of quality runners on both surfaces. We were keen to utilise him, especially as Angle Of Attack is also a granddaughter of Distorted Humor, already the damsire of one of Bolt d'Oro's best winners, Major Dude.
BLUE DIAMOND (GB) (m 5, Galileo (Ire)–Pearling, by Storm Cat) foaled colt by Siyouni (Fr); booked to Dubawi (Ire)
The Galileo – Dubawi cross needs no introduction and as a member of an exceptional family that has been a bedrock of Blue Diamond Stud for many years, this mare also deserves the best chance at stud; she is a sister to our three-time Group 1 winner Decorated Knight (GB) and out of Pearling, a sister to Giant's Causeway, blue hen You'resothrilling and Freud from the illustrious Mariah's Storm dynasty.
DANCING KIKI (m 6, Blame–Justenufappeal, by Exchange Rate), booked to Medaglia d'Oro
A tough Saratoga stakes winner who won on turf and dirt. The key was to start her off with a proven stallion and Medaglia d'Oro, as such a dependable and versatile source of quality, fits the bill especially as his record with Kris S.-line mares includes Marketing Mix, Dark Cove etc. It's also a variation of the Medaglia d'Oro – Blame cross behind Forte.
DAWN OF HOPE (GB) (m 10, Mastercraftsman (Ire)–Sweet Firebird (Ire), by Sadler's Wells) foaled colt by Pinatubo (Ire); booked to Lope De Vega (Ire)
Lope De Vega has forged such a successful partnership with Danehill-line mares–Belardo (Ire), Place Du Carrousel (Ire), Newspaperofrecord (Ire), Gytrash (Aus), Santa Ana Lane (Aus), Sweet Lady (Fr) spring to mind, etc.–and Dawn Of Hope was extremely talented herself, winning the Listed Prix Petite Etoile.
A half-sister to our multiple stakes winner Ayrad (GB) from the family of Stravinsky, Dawn Of Hope's first foal Kind Gesture (GB) (Decorated Knight {GB}), came close to landing black type for Prince A A Faisal last year. Her second, Variable Cost (GB) (Kingman {GB}), is on the worktab for Chad Brown while her 2-year-old colt by Invincible Spirit (Ire) is due to join John and Thady Gosden. There is a lot to look forward to with this mare.
I'M WONDERFUL (m 7, Giant's Causeway–Rebridled Dreams, by Unbridled's Song) booked to Blame
An exciting mare, this sister to Carpe Diem was bought as a yearling and her first foal, Wonderful Justice (by Justify), made a winning debut for Brad Cox earlier this month at Fair Grounds. He took the Black Gold S. by a neck on Saturday to become his sire's eighth stakes winner. Her 2-year-old colt by Dubawi is with Charlie Appleby and she has a yearling filly by Curlin.
As outlined earlier, we are keen to push more Roberto blood into the stud and given Blame's success with the Storm Cat and Unbridled lines (her dam is a daughter of Unbridled's Song), we felt she would be a good fit for Blame; indeed, the foal will be bred along very similar lines to the high-class Blamed. I'm Wonderful is one of several mares we are sending to Blame this year. Others include Floret (Ire), a Galileo (Ire) half-sister to Moonlight Cloud (GB) whose first foal, a 2-year-old colt by Kingman (GB), goes to Andre Fabre. She has recently foaled a very nice filly by Palace Pier (GB).
MANASAROVA (m 10, More Than Ready–Manaahil, by Mr Greeley) booked to Not This Time
A big, strong More Than Ready mare from the Ballade family, she was listed-placed in France herself and is the dam of last season's listed winner Sicilian Defense (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}). Her 3-year-old colt, Ribal (GB) (Roaring Lion), was placed at Newmarket last season for Andrew Balding and her 2-year-old filly by Zoustar (Aus) goes to Andre Fabre, so there's plenty to look forward to. Like Abscond, she is bred on the Hail To Reason-Gone West cross, both lines that Not This Time has already clicked with, and from a family that seems to translate on both sides of the Atlantic.
NADIA PROMISE (GB) (m 9, Galileo (Ire)–Majestic Sakeena (Ire), by King's Best) foaled a filly by Siyouni (Fr); booked to New Bay (GB)
From one of our oldest and most successful families, Nadia Promise is a half-sister to our first homebred stakes winner Nouriya (GB) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), who bred G2 Duke Of Cambridge S. winner Aljazzi (GB) (Shamardal) for us. Nouriya remains in the stud and visits Kingman, thereby replicating the Danehill/Danehill Dancer cross responsible for Persian King (Ire), Chachnak (GB), Tempus (GB) and Megallan (GB) among others.
Nadia Promise, who is inbred 3×3 to Allegretta, recently foaled a good filly by Siyouni and now goes to New Bay, which gives us a variation of the highly successful New Bay-Galileo cross.
NAZANIN (m 4, Declaration Of War–Woodland Scene (Ire), by Act One (GB)) booked to Frankel (GB)
A homebred for us, Nazanin won the G3 Firth Of Clyde S. and deserves a chance with a stallion like Frankel, especially given how effective he has proven with Danzig-line mares. It's an excellent Car Colston Hall Stud family, since she is out of a half-sister to Group 1 winner Crowded House (GB) (Rainbow Quest) and therefore a granddaughter of Wiener Wald from the further family of Storm Cat and Royal Academy.
PEARLING (m 17, Storm Cat–Mariah's Storm, by Rahy) in foal to Frankel (GB); booked to Frankel (GB)
Pearling has been a much-valued member of Blue Diamond Stud since her purchase in 2011. Out of Mariah's Storm, she is a full or half-sister to eight stakes horses including Giant's Causeway and You'resothrilling. It's a family that keeps on giving, as we saw again last year when You'resothrilling's daughter Toy (Ire) was Classic-placed in the Irish Oaks and another half-sister Fabulous (Ire) was represented by the G1 Prix Saint-Alary winner Above The Curve (American Pharoah).
Pearling herself has been a wonderful servant for Blue Diamond Stud, notably as the dam of Decorated Knight, whose wins for us included the G1 Irish Champion S., G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup and G1 Jebel Hatta. She deserves the best and, with Frankel, we get that elite quality as well as access to the Galileo line that provided Decorated Knight. Her first foal by Frankel, the winning Ambrosia (GB), is also doing her bit to add to the family as the dam of the promising Justify filly Aunt Shirley, who was highly tried by WinStar Farm after winning on debut last year.
Pearling's 2-year-old filly by Kingman (GB), named Haute Couture (GB), will be trained by John and Thady Gosden.
PRINCESS LOULOU (GB) (m 13, Pivotal (GB)–Aiming (GB), by Highest Honor) in foal to Frankel (GB); booked to Frankel (GB)
A listed winner and second in the G1 Prix Jean Romanet for us, she is the dam of our Prix de Diane and Nassau S. heroine Nashwa (GB). She is currently carrying a filly by Nashwa's sire Frankel and it made sense to go back to him. Princess Loulou's 2-year-old filly by Decorated Knight will join Nashwa in John and Thady Gosden's yard while she has a very nice yearling colt by Dubawi.
QIBLA (Ire) (m 4, Fastnet Rock (Aus)–Nadia Promise (GB), by Galileo (Ire)) in foal to Saxon Warrior (Jpn); booked to Mishriff (Ire)
We are delighted to support Mishriff in his first season at stud. It's rare to find such versatility and toughness in a horse coupled with his kind of Group 1 talent, plus he's a beautiful horse from Prince Faisal's wonderful Rafha (GB) family of Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Kodiac (GB). So we were keen to support him and are delighted to be sending a mare from our long-serving Majestic Sakeena family responsible for Aljazzi and Nouriya.
ROSE OF MIRACLES (GB) (m 11, Dalakhani (Ire)–Neartica (Fr), by Sadler's Wells) in foal to Lope De Vega (Ire); booked to No Nay Never
From the outstanding Riviere d'Or (Fr) family of Goldikova (Ire), Rose Of Miracles has produced three winners from as many runners for us including Amtiyaz (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who won the Copper Horse S. at Royal Ascot, and Najeeba (GB) (Dansili {GB}), the winner of three races. Particularly exciting, however, is her 3-year-old Intinso (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}), who was named a 'TDN Rising Star' when winning well on debut at Newcastle last year. He holds several big-race entries for John and Thady Gosden and given how Rose Of Miracles's progeny tend to improvement with time, there is reason to hope that he might be able to progress into better company. It's also with the idea of exposing her to proper juvenile speed that Rose Of Miracles goes to No Nay Never, and of course it's the same cross as Meditate (Ire).
TISA RIVER (Ire) (m, 9 Equiano (Fr)–Senta's Dream (GB), by Danehill) foaled colt by Frankel (GB); booked to Camelot (GB)
A half-sister to Iridessa (Ire), Order Of Australia (Ire) and Santa Barbara (Ire) and already a stakes producer herself as the dam of last season's smart sprint 2-year-old Bolt Action, her first foal. Her 2-year-old filly by Blue Point (Ire) has gone to Andrew Balding. With Camelot, we are breeding along similar lines to Santa Barbara, one of the top 3-year-old fillies of 2021.
ZOTILLA (Ire) (m, 11 Zamindar–Louvain (Ire), by Sinner (Ire)) booked to Dubawi (Ire)
We bought Zotilla at Arqana in 2019 and last year received an incredible update when her daughter Mangoustine (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) won the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, thereby emulating Zotilla's half-sister Flotilla who won the race in 2013. As a Classic producer, we felt she deserved a chance with one of Europe's best stallions in Dubawi. He should suit her physically and of course, it's the same Dubawi-Zamindar cross as New Bay and Zarak from just 10 starters; Dubawi has also bred three black-type winners from a handful of foals out of mares by Zafonic so the Zaizafon cross is certainly one to take notice of.
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