Dubawi keys big weekend for Godolphin

Dubawi became the first sire to have three offspring win Breeders’ Cup races in a single year, also fueling a historic weekend for Godolphin, the owner and breeder of all three victors.

Dubawi, the sire of one previous Breeders’ Cup winner in 2017 Filly and Mare Turf heroine Wuheida, is based at Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket, England, for Sheikh Mohammed’s international Godolphin operation, which stands its stallions under the Darley brand.

Dubawi is the sire of Juvenile Turf winner Modern Games, Mile winner Space Blues – who is set to join his sire at stud in 2022 – and Turf winner Yibir. All three race as homebreds for Godolphin, making the operation the first owner and breeder to win three races in a single Breeders’ Cup event.

More Than Ready leads all sires with seven Breeders’ Cup victories overall. He has twice been represented by two winners on a single Breeders’ Cup weekend, in 2010 and 2017. Eleven other sires have been represented by a pair of Breeders’ Cup winners at a single event – Awesome Again (2004), Chester House (2008), City Zip (2014), Cox’s Ridge (1985), Into Mischief (2020), Kris S. (1993), Medaglia d’Oro (2017), Mizzen Mast (2012), Nureyev (1987), Sadler’s Wells (2003), and Smart Strike (2007).

The Breeders’ Cup was inaugurated as a single-day seven-race program in 1984. It made the first addition to its program with the Filly and Mare Turf in 1999 and expanded to two days beginning in 2007. The current two-day program includes 14 Breeders’ Cup races.