A Dream of a broodmare sire

John Boyce examines Oasis Dream’s increasingly impressive record as a damsire 

The progression from good sire to good broodmare sire is not a given. Many a superstar stallion has failed to make the same impact through his daughters’ progeny. But some do brilliantly and I always come back to the classic case of Darshaan, who was a very good sire as his 13% Stakes winners to runners suggests. Given that a sire’s daughters are usually covered by a wide variety of stallions, an excellent pass mark for a broodmare sire is about 6% Stakes winners to runners. Well, Darshaan’s daughters produced a remarkable 9.2% Stakes winners and even more astonishing is his 14.9% Stakes winners from his elite daughters. They are the sort of numbers that any aspiring broodmare sire needs to reach to be ranked among the very best.

One such young broodmare sire is Juddmonte’s Oasis Dream, who enjoyed coming-of-age year in 2020. No sire born since 1999 enjoyed a better year. His tally of 18 Stakes winners this year remains unmatched by any northern hemisphere-based broodmare sire aged 20 or under. Moreover, only well established European broodmare sires Galileo, Dansili and Danehill Dancer have surpassed his total of 10 Group winners in 2020. And when it comes to Group 1 winners, only Galileo and Sadler’s Wells had more that his four.

Oasis Dream, as we all know, was a top-class sprinter, earning a Timeform rating of 129 after victories in the Group 1 July Cup and Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes. As a son of a Dancing Brave mare, it was always possible that the Khalid Abdullah colour bearer would sire runners imbued with more stamina than he himself showed. History tells us that he did in fact sire some nice horses with more stamina, such as the top-class Timeform 126-rated six-time Group 1 winner Midday. 

That said, Oasis Dream’s legacy has been his speed and his best offspring, Muhaarar, who earned an even higher Timeform rating than his sire (132) when sweeping four consecutive Group 1 sprints as a three-year-old – including emulating Oasis Dream’s victory in the Group 1 July Cup – has been his sire’s greatest work. The fact that the average winning distance of his progeny’s siblings is 8.6 furlongs, considerably longer than the 7.8 furlongs of his own offspring, demonstrates how breeders have hoped for more stamina from the son of Green Desert. 

In all, Oasis Dream has been as good a sire as you could hope for. His strike rate of 10% Stakes winners is excellent, and all the more remarkable given his position more towards the speed end of the spectrum. Predictably, he has done even better with elite mares, siring 12% Stakes winners to runners. And it is his well-bred daughters that have helped him set the seal on his reputation as a young broodmare sire of immense promise. His 58 Stakes winners have come at a rate of 5% to runners, but his elite daughters have a much more impressive score of 9%.

Four of his five Group 1 winners have come in 2020 and are a diverse group, featuring Group 1 Melbourne Cup winner Twilight Payment to Classic-winning miler Siskin. In between there are mile-and-a-quarter scorer Tawkeel, winner of the Prix Saint-Alary, and 2040m WS Cox Plate hero Sir Dragonet.

Tawkeel, winner of the Group 1 Prix Saint Alary, is an example of the successful Teofilo/Oasis Dream cross

Tawkeel, winner of the Group 1 Prix Saint Alary, is an example of the successful Teofilo/Oasis Dream cross

Two of the 2020 Group 1 winners out of his daughters – Twilight Payment and Tawkeel – are by Teofilo. All together, the Teofilo/Oasis Dream cross has produced four Stakes winners from just 13 starters, for a strike rate of 39%. These are identical numbers to the Dansili/Oasis Dream cross, although the best of the four Stakes winners is only at Group 3 level. 

Teofilo’s sire Galileo is another to have produced four Stakes winners (18%) from Oasis Dream mares, in his case the best being Midday’s son Midterm, a Group 2-placed Group 3 winner. Other sires with at least two Stakes winners and a 25% strike rate are the Giant’s Causeway sires Shamardal and Footstepsinthesand, plus No Nay Never, Raven’s Pass and Sir Prancealot. No Nay Never’s sire Scat Daddy has sired Group 1 winner Sioux Nation from an Oasis Dream mare, while Wootton Bassett has the promising Group 2 Champagne Stakes winner Chindit from another. Meanwhile, the speed on speed combination of Dark Angel and Oasis Dream has thrown only two Stakes winners from 38 runners (5.3%). And Dark Angel’s sire, Acclamation, has but one Stakes winner from 21 runners (4.8%). 

As Oasis Dream is still in good health and is due to cover again in 2021, we can expect many more major winners to come from his daughters, particularly as it looks like he works well with most of the Classic sires around today.

GROUP WINNERS OUT OF OASIS DREAM MARES

Form Name Born Sex Sire Dam Dam Form
G1w SIOUX NATION  2015 C SCAT DADDY DREAM THE BLUES  W
G1w SIR DRAGONET  2016 C CAMELOT Sparrow WG3p 
G1w SISKIN  2017 C FIRST DEFENCE BIRD FLOWN W
G1w TAWKEEL  2017 F TEOFILO RAFAADAH  LRw
G1w TWILIGHT PAYMENT  2013 G TEOFILO DREAM ON BUDDY W
G2w BARRAQUERO  2015 C ZEBEDEE CHICA WHOPA  W
G2w CHINDIT  2018 C WOOTTON BASSETT ALWAYS A DREAM  W
G2w TIS MARVELLOUS  2014 G HARBOUR WATCH MYTHICISM  W
G2w UNFORGETABLE FILLY  2014 F SEPOY BEAUTIFUL FILLY  W
G2w VENTURA TORMENTA  2018 C ACCLAMATION Midnight Oasis  UP
G2wG1p CHAPADA  2015 G BULLET TRAIN DIAMANTINA DIOR  W
G2wG1p DAAHYEH  2017 F BATED BREATH AFFLUENT  W
G2wG1p MISS AMULET  2018 F SIR PRANCEALOT SHENA'S DREAM  W
G2wG1p OBLIGATE  2016 F FRANKEL Responsible  UR
G3w COMMEMORATIVE  2012 C ZAMINDAR REVERED  W
G3w DARK LADY  2017 F DARK ANGEL LADYSHIP  LRw
G3w DARK RECKONING  2012 F EQUIANO IMPRESSIBLE  W
G3w DELAWARE  2016 C FRANKEL ZATSFINE  W
G3w DELPHI  2017 C GALILEO BYE BYE BIRDIE  G3w
G3w EVASIVE'S FIRST  2012 C EVASIVE Zalia  UP
G3w LANGTANG  2014 C CAMPANOLOGIST La Vinchina  UR
G3w RAVEN'S CORNER  2013 G RAVEN'S PASS BEAUTIFUL FILLY  W
G3w SHUTTER SPEED  2014 F DANSILI PHOTOGRAPHIC  W
G3w ZONZA  2015 F ALEX THE WINNER ZANYEVA  W
G3wG1p ALRAHMA  2014 F SHAMARDAL ALBARAAH  LRwG3p
G3wG1p EXTORTIONIST  2011 C DANDY MAN DREAM DATE  W
G3wG1p LACY  2011 F AUTHORIZED La Vinchina  UR
G3wG2p BRASILIAN MAN  2016 C TEOFILO ALTA FEDELTA  G3w
G3wG2p EFAADAH  2015 F DANSILI ALBARAAH  LRwG3p
G3wG2p LANCASTER HOUSE  2016 C GALILEO QUIET OASIS  G2wG1p
G3wG2p MIDTERM  2013 G GALILEO MIDDAY  G1w
G3wG2p THE HAPPY PRINCE  2012 C RIP VAN WINKLE Maid to Dream P
G3wG2p YAFTA  2015 C DARK ANGEL SWISS DREAM  LRw

About the author

John Boyce

John Boyce grew up on a stud farm and is a bloodstock journalist and former editor of Pacemaker and of The Thoroughbred Breeder. He was part of the Darley/Godolphin team from 2001 to 2022 as Group Marketing Head and then Group Head of Research. He is currently a partner in a data analytics company based in London.

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