Jack Hobbs built to last and a throwback to Godolphin golden age

In an age when commercial breeders have become so infatuated with precocity that the retirement of a two-year-old colt to stud is barely met with a raised eyebrow any more, the breeding of Jack Hobbs is refreshing in its bias towards pure middle-distance class and later maturation.

Saturday's impressive Dubai Sheema Classic winner is doing just what he was engineered to do by proving to be a top-class horse long after many of the best of his age group have started their stallion careers.

Jack Hobbs was bred by former champion jockey Willie Carson and his wife Elaine at their Minster Stud in Gloucestershire and, as a son of Halling out of a Swain mare, boasts two brilliant and battle-hardened Godolphin colts as sire and damsire.