Pat Eddery meets OASIS
DREAM
Although the purpose of this trip to Newmarket was to review the
credentials of the most exciting stallion prospect to retire to
stud in Europe in 2003, I knew that my visit to Banstead Manor Stud
would also be a journey down memory lane.
No sooner had we entered the magnificent stallion complex than a
familiar head appeared over the stable door. Rainbow Quest may be
22 years old, but he retains all his youthful looks and enthusiasm.
My mind rolled back to Longchamp in 1985. We might have together
only finished second in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, but there
were few people on the racecourse who were surprised when the race
was awarded to us in the Stewards room.
I pride myself as being the only jockey to have won on this
great stallion…in fact we were never defeated as a partnership. A
moment of sadness also crept in as I surveyed the other heads
eagerly waiting at their doors. No longer were my two other
Juddmonte champions awaiting my attention, for Warning and Zafonic
have now passed on.However, the relevance was not lost on me, for
both of these brilliant racehorses started their stallion careers
here at Banstead Manor - and both became champion first season
sires along the way to acceptance as being amongst the leading
sires of their age.
So Oasis Dream has a lot to live up to! Fortunately for him, he
will have a lot of assistance along the way for he will receive
some of the best Juddmonte mares as well as about 100 outside mares
of the highest quality.
Simon Mockridge has been manager at Banstead Manor since 1987
and has overseen the introduction of six new stallions at the stud.
Apart from Warning and Zafonic, there has also been Generous,
Zamindar (sire of Classic winner Zenda in his first crop),
Observatory (with his first yearlings in 2004) and Dansili (with
his first two-year-olds in 2004). However, Mockridge is quick to
point out that Oasis Dream is by far the easiest to promote. “He’s
a walking billboard, an advertisement in himself”.
As Oasis Dream is brought out of his sumptuous new quarters, it
is easy to see the reason for such praise. Here was an individual
that oozed class and quality. When on the move, he walks like an
athlete. “Slinky” was Mockridge’s description.
Casting back my memory to the racecourse, it was his wonderfully
fluent action in all his paces that had caught my eye. Always very
laid back and easy tempered, he never wasted energy by getting warm
in the paddock or pulling too hard in either the preliminaries or
the race itself.This is a rare trait in a sprinter and a highly
desirable quality to pass on to the next generation.
Oasis Dream stands just a little over 15.3 hands but with good
depth and length, as well as very powerful quarters. He is
deceptively heavier than he appears, already weighing 517 kg within
one week of his return from the Breeders Cup. He has a rich bay
colour, with a apostrophe-shaped small white star just off centre
of his quality head and snips of white around three hooves. He is
already the pride and joy of his groom Robert Bowley and has
impressed everyone that has come to see him.
Head Stallion Man John Gilbert is amazed at the horse’s
attitude. “We had 35 shows a day all through the December Sales and
he never turned a hair, always willing and enjoying the
adulation”.
In a world that seems obsessed with speed, Oasis Dream fulfils
all the criteria that commercial breeders require. ‘Precocity’ at
two years appears to be an essential, so being elected Champion Two
Year Old with two wins and a second culminating in a victory in the
Middle Park should qualify well on this count.
The almost indecent reaction against any stamina influence
should also be satisfied by the words of John Gosden, his trainer.
“This horse had “Abernant speed …raw speed!”
Becoming Champion Sprinter at three years old confirmed this,
and no one will forget the way that he put away Choisir in the July
Cup or had the principal sprinters of the year trailing after less
than two furlongs when flying home in the Nunthorpe Stakes in a
near record time.Pedigree experts have been confounded by the
natural speed of Oasis Dream. With his first three dams being sired
by Dancing Brave, Mill Reef and Busted respectively, it was
unlikely that he would be suited by less than 8 furlongs, even
given the dominance of speed from his sire Green Desert.
However memories are short. Who can ever forget Dancing Brave
cruising past Green Desert in the 2000 Guineas with Greville
Starkey’s neck turned 180 degrees looking for non-existent
challengers? Walter Swinburn rode Green Desert that day. “ I have
never come down the hill at Newmarket so fast, yet Dancing Brave
just breezed past me!”
I can assure you that Dancing Brave had unbelievable speed.
While my famous victories on him were over 12 furlongs, he could
have won top races at 6 furlongs. Similarly, people forget that
Mill Reef flew home in the Coventry Stakes as a two year old and
had a great turn of foot. My affinity with the family is more than
just through Dancing Brave. I rode his grandam Bahamian in all her
races. She was a talented filly and should have won a Group 2 race
at Longchamp, but we were disqualified.
While I never rode Hope (the dam of Oasis Dream, who only ran
once), I did ride her full sister Wemyss Bight to win the Irish
Oaks and three other Group races in France. This is such a fabulous
family that produces brilliant horses with great temperaments and
desire to win.Beat Hollow (a son of Wemyss Bight) was an
exceptional horse in America, as well as a Group 1 winner in
France. Zenda (half sister to Oasis Dream) won last year’s
French 1000 Guineas, while Martaline has been knocking on the door
of Group One success throughout 2003 in France, and stays in
training. You can be sure that this young family will throw up more
Group performers in the next few years for Prince Khalid.
Green Desert is the ‘hot’ sire of sires at the moment. His sons
Desert Prince, Desert Sun, Volksraad and Desert Style have all made
their mark around the world, but it is the leading first season
sire Cape Cross that is firing the imagination of breeders and
trainers alike. Yet none of these horses had the speed, class or
pedigree of Oasis Dream.
Simon Mitchell and Wendy Johnson Houghton are responsible for
advertising at Banstead Manor. They have been drooling all year at
the thought of promoting this horse, for with the colt’s evocative
name alone, there is tremendous scope for an imaginative
advertising campaign. Sadly for them the ‘BOOK FULL’ sign went up
well before the December Sales, so an extensive promotion has been
put on ice.
By contrast, Richard Knight, who joins Pat Rule on Nomination
Sales at Banstead, has seen a baptism of fire in his first few
weeks. His ear has been bent every-which-way by breeders unable to
get into the horse.
Oasis Dream remains blissfully unaware of all the fuss and
furore…let alone expectation. He is settling into his new
surroundings amidst the history and tradition of Banstead Manor.
Set amongst beautiful mature trees (one is over 1000 years old and
recorded in the Domesday Book), this has to be one of the most
picturesque settings of any English stud. The buildings all around
the stud are in a traditional style, many being the original
stabling when the property was developed by H.E.Morriss in the
early 1900’s.
Oasis Dream will get ample opportunity to take in all the beauty
of the place when he starts the pre-season fitness regime that all
the stallions will undertake as from January 1st. Seven miles of
roadwork will harden Oasis Dream and ensure his groom Robert Bowley
walks off any Christmas excesses by the time covering starts in
February.
Pat Eddery
Horse & Hound
Date: 08 January 2004