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The sterling efforts of Pivotal, and of Sadler’s Wells sons Galileo and Montjeu – who come to the fore as the distance increase – not withstanding, European racing often appears to be dominated by the Danzig line, particularly via Danehill and Green Desert. Those two branches were particuarly in evidence in the last week, through Dansili – who is vying with Danehill Dancer to be regarded as Danehill’s leading European son – and Oasis Dream, who came to the fore with a remarkable 2009 season.
 
Between them, Dansili and Oasis Dream were represented by seven stakes winners last week. For Dansili the scorers were Famous Name, Foreteller, Abaton and Harbinger. Famous Name (TrueNicks A+), a five-year-old who won the Heritage Stakes at Leopardstown is out of a Quest For Fame mare. This is something of an “in-house” Juddmonte Farms nick, and Dansili also has three stakes winners out of mares by Quest For Fame’s sire, Rainbow Quest. What is significant is that Dansili’s dam, Hasili, is by Kahyasi, a Nijinsky II/Blushing Groom cross, and so Rainbow Quest adds more Blushing Groom (always good with Nijinsky II), while Quest For Fame is a reverse Blushing Groom/Nijinsky II cross to Quest For Fame. Foreteller (TrueNicks A), a three-year-old colt won the Prix de Suresnes, to advance on the French Derby trail. His dam, the Cheveley Park Stakes (gr. I) victress Prophecy, is by Warning (by Known Fact, from the In Reality line), whose granddam, Where You Lead, is also granddam of Rainbow Quest. Warning’s dam, Slightly Dangerous, combines Roberto and a three-parts-sister to Hyperion, and Dansili’s granddam is by a grandson of Hyperion out of a Roberto mare. Abaton (TrueNicks A+), a four-year-old who took a listed race in Italy is out of a mare by Night Shift, the brother to Fanfreluche. Even though he’s a son of Northern Dancer, Night Shift has done well back under certain Northern Dancer strains, and there are at least 14 stakes winners winners on a Danzig/Night Shift cross (Night Shift’s Canadian-bred dam is an outcross to most commercial European and U.S. lines close up, but a little deeper back has some strains that we think are the key to a connection with some Northern Dancer line horses). Abaton’s second dam is by the Sea-Bird II stallion, Arctic Tern, and Dansili’s fourth recent stakes winner, four-year-old Harbinger, who took the Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise Stakes (gr. III), is out of a mare by Arctic Tern’s son, Bering. He’s proving to be a good foil for both Danehill (seven stakes winners) and the Danzig line in general (13 stakes winners).
 
Oasis Dream’s major winner of the week was actually in the U.S., where Tuscan Evening (TrueNicks A++) took the Santa Barbara Handicap (gr. II), to take her record for the year to four-for-four, with stakes wins from 6½ to ten furlongs. This epitomizes the versatility shown by Oasis Dream – a sprinter, by a sprinter/miler out of a sister to a 12 furlong classic winner – as a sire, and as colleague Andrew Caulfield pointed out in the Thoroughbred Daily News recently Oasis Dream already has three-year-old group and graded winners at every distance from five furlongs to 1½  miles. Tuscan Evening’s dam is by the French Derby (gr. I) and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (gr. I) victor, Suave Dancer (by Green Dancer), and he’s one of five stakes winners by Oasis Dream out of Nijinsky II line mares. Oasis Dream also scored with the four-year-old fily Alta Fedelta (out of a mare by Luge, a grandson of Lyphard) in the Premio Carlo Chiesa (gr. III), and four-year-old colt Sri Putra (TrueNicks A+) in the Earl of Sefton Stakes (gr. III). Sri Putra’s dam is by In the Wings, a Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer)/Mill Reef (Never Bend) cross, and Oasis Dream’s sire, Green Desert, combines Northern Dancer and Never Bend, while his dam is also a Northern Dancer/Mill Reef cross.
 

Filed under: Recent Winners, Mares, Emerging Nicks, Sires, European Racing, Pedigree Elements