'She stands out a bit, doesn't she?' - Oxx on only Dubawi yearling at Orby Sale

There won't be many yearling fillies offered over the course of the next few weeks with as outstanding broodmare prospects as Staffordstown Stud's final offering at this year's Goffs Orby Sale.

Lot 490 is the only filly among the six beautifully bred yearlings consigned by Kirsten Rausing's Irish farm and she is also the solitary horse in the catalogue by the exceptional Dubawi.

Staffordstown Stud has an excellent track record with the progeny of Darley's leading sire at this sale. During the 2020 Goffs Orby Sale, Staffordstown Stud sold a Dubawi colt out of the Sea The Stars mare All At Sea for £110,000 to Mags O'Toole on behalf of Norman Williamson's Oak Tree Farm. That colt turned out to be this year's St Leger and Queen's Vase winner Eldar Eldarov.

Out of the winning Stormy Atlantic mare Here To Eternity, the March-born filly is a half-sister to not one but two Hong Kong Group 1 winners - the Archipenko full-brothers Time Warp and Glorious Forever.

Both geldings were victorious in the Hong Kong Cup and Time Warp, the elder by a year, was also successful in two runnings of the Group 1 Hong Kong Gold Cup.

"She stands out a bit, doesn't she?" said John Oxx, with typical understatement of the beautiful bay.

Oxx, whose genius handling of Sea The Stars crowned a brilliant career training champions including Sinndar and Ridgewood Pearl, is director of Staffordstown Stud and overseeing the farm's draft at Goffs for the first time.

He said: "She's a lovely filly and always has been, we've been delighted with her all along. She's a fine, well-grown filly but has always had lovely balance. She's very athletic and with lovely bone and great conformation.

"She loves the work she has been doing during prep and is thriving on it."

Her dam Here To Eternity is out of the Listed Bremer Stuten-Meile winner Heat Of The Night, a daughter of Lear Fan and the Brazilian Group 3 winner Hot Thong.

In addition to her Group 1 winners, she is also the dam of Heat And Dust, a four-year-old daughter of Oasis Dream who has won twice this season for her owner-breeder and Sir Mark Prescott, who trains Rausing's five-time Group 1 winner Alpinista.

Here To Eternity is also the dam of Davideo, an unraced two-year-old Galileo colt in training with Ralph Beckett who made 230,000gns as a yearling, and Oxx had positive reports of the 2023 Derby entrant.

John Oxx: training legend is 'on the other side of the fence now'Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

He said: "A half-sister to two really good horses and a Dubawi covering for the mare was pretty exciting. Her two-year-old half-brother by Galileo is also a good, strong horse and one we are looking forward to for next year."

With such a strong pedigree and the rarity value of being the only offspring of one of the world's best stallions in the sale, prospective purchasers have been making their way to the Staffordstown stables in Barn B to inspect the filly.

"Even though she isn't selling until Wednesday evening, a lot of people have come to see her already, which is hopefully a good sign," said Oxx.

"She's a very nice filly and would obviously be a fine addition to anybody's broodmare band, she has undoubted residual value."

Oxx, responsible for 35 Group 1 winners, retired from training at the end of the 2020 season and became director of Staffordstown Stud a year ago. The farm also offers four colts from the first crop of Prix du Jockey Club winner Study Of Man, who stands at the operation's Lanwades Stud base, outside Newmarket.

They include a half-brother to Seychelloise (236), dam of the Group 2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes and Lennox Stakes winner Sandrine, who was also third in the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes.

It's a very different experience for the genial trainer, who was famed for his careful and kind nurturing of the horses in his care during a wonderful career.

"I'm on the other side of the fence now, it's a different perspective when you have been watching them grow and develop and now to see the end product," said Oxx.

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