Gentile Bellini a rare sighting of a Coolmore-owned Dubawi runner

The bloodstock industry entered a new era last year when Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation decided to end its self-imposed embargo on purchasing youngstock by Coolmore sires for the first time in more than a decade.

Relations, it seemed, were further smoothed with Coolmore grasping the olive branch by teaming up with Mayfair Speculators and Peter and Ross Doyle that same sales season to purchase a 2,000,000gns son of Godolphin's premier sire Dubawi.

The Highclere Stud-consigned colt is the first produce of 1,000 Guineas heroine Sky Lantern.

"Dubawi is a very good sire," said MV Magnier after signing the docket. "And this colt is out of a brilliant mare. She was very quick - she won the Moyglare at two and then the 1,000 Guineas and Coronation Stakes at three. This colt is just a very good-looking Dubawi."

Since named Gentile Bellini, he will make his first appearance in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden (2.05) for colts and geldings at Leopardstown on Saturday and will be ridden by Seamie Heffernan for Aidan O'Brien.

Sky Lantern was the joint-highest rated juvenile filly in Ireland the year she won the Moyglare Stud Stakes and was crowned champion filly over a mile for her wins in the 1,000 Guineas, Coronation Stakes and Sun Chariot Stakes the following year.

The standout daughter of Red Clubs also has a yearling brother to Gentile Bellini, a filly foal by Frankel and visited Galileo earlier this year. Her yearling colt was a vendor buyback for 625,000gns at Book 1 last week.

Gentile Bellini was not the first Dubawi yearling to be snapped up by Magnier at public auction as he had earlier made a sale-topping bid of 2,100,000gns for the Dubawi filly out of Loveisallyouneed at the same sale in 2015.

That earlier transaction was partly explained by the fact Loveisallyouneed is an unraced daughter of blue hen Jude, most of whose offspring - including Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Yesterday and Oaks runner-up Quarter Moon - raced for Coolmore.

Coolmore had purchased progeny of Godolphin stallions despite the Maktoum family's embargo, having also invested in youngsters by Jonabell Farm stallion Bernardini in recent years, with Mantaray Island a $1.45 million breeze-up purchase and Gala Award picked up as a yearling colt for $1.55m.

O'Brien calls on the services of Michael Hussey and Shane Crosse to ride his other two newcomers in the race, both Coolmore-owned sons of Australia, who almost notched a first-crop Group 1 winner with Broome going so close when second in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere.

Hussey's mount Kangaroo Valley is out of US Grade 2 winner Dundalk Dust, while Crosse will ride Macquarie, a product of Aidan and Annemarie O'Brien's Listed-placed Holy Roman Emperor mare Beyond Brilliance.

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