Al Hilalee looks another exciting two-year-old talent for Dubawi

Fresh from bringing up a century of Group/Graded winners, Dubawi looks to have another bright prospect on his hands in the shape of Al Hilalee, who stormed to a three-and-a-quarter-length victory in a 7f maiden on debut at Newmarket on Friday despite showing signs of greenness.

The Charlie Appleby inmate beat another debutant son of Dubawi owned by Godolphin, the Saeed Bin Suroor-trained Al Mureib, into second with race favourite Mount Tabora, an Aidan O'Brien-trained Scat Daddy half-brother to Chachamaidee, a nose back in third.

Appleby said after the race: “[Al Hilalee] has got a bright future and is going to stay further. His dam had her little idiosyncrasies and so has he, but he travelled well and answered James [Doyle, jockey].

View the full result and watch the race replay

“I have the Racing Post Trophy at the back of my mind with his breeding.”

Dubawi has been in the news this week after Crown Walk became that 100th Pattern race winner for him in the Group 3 Prix Chloe on Monday, and he was also strutting his stuff to breeders at the Darley Stallion Parade at Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket on Thursday and Friday.

Al Hilalee is the second winner from Dubawi's two-year-old crop of 2018, bred at a fee of £125,000, after another exciting Appleby-trained colt in Quorto, who landed a Newmarket maiden in eye-catching fashion last month and will likely start favourite for the Group 2 Superlative Stakes back at the track on Saturday.

Needless to say, nearly all of Dubawi's juveniles come with tip-top pedigrees and another who we can look forward to seeing in the short term is Prejudice, a brother to four-time Group 1 winner Postponed who is trained by Luca Cumani for breeder St Albans Bloodstock and is entered to make his debut in a 7f novice stakes at Yarmouth on Wednesday.

As a glimpse into the quality contained in Dubawi's two-year-old crop, in 2015 he covered 160 mares, 142 of whom were winners, 112 black-type performers and 92 black-type winners.

A lengthy list of Group/Grade 1 winners he covered that year includes Alpine Rose, Attraction, Casual Look, Chachamaidee, Danedream, Dar Re Mi, Estimate, Finsceal Beo, Galikova, Giofra, Heat Haze, Hibaayeb, Icon Project, Izzi Top, Love Divine, Lyric Of Light, Royal Highness, Saoirse Abu, Sariska, Seal Of Approval, Shawanda, Sky Lantern, Sortilege, Talent, The Fugue, White Moonstone – and Ambivalent, the dam of Al Hilalee.

Ambivalent, a daughter of Authorized, was trained by Roger Varian to win five races including the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh at four and the Middleton Stakes at five. She also finished third in the Coronation Cup and Dubai Sheema Classic.

Al Hilalee is Ambivalent's first foal, and she also has a yearling filly by Dubawi and a filly foal by Sea The Stars born March 13.

Ambivalent is from a versatile family as she is a half-sister to Triumph Hurdle winner Made In Japan but also to Diary, the dam of Prix de l'Abbaye winner Total Gallery. She is out of Darrery, a Listed-placed daughter of Darshaan and Group 3 Candelabra Stakes scorer Flamenco.

Authorized has so far been represented by two stakes winners as broodmare sire, both coincidentally by Dark Angel – Stage Magic in the Prix des Chenes and Dame Du Roi in the Prix Miesque and Prix Saraca.

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