I was delighted that Jack Hobbs won the big 12f race at Meydan, it was not just the good feeling one gets from a horse ‘coming back’ but because Jack Hobbs promises something for the future as a sire. I sincerely hope so anyway.
Jack Hobbs is one of the few representatives of an old and important sire line, but also comes from a distaff line that evokes memories of a tough horse and his breeder. First let’s look at the pedigree of Jack Hobbs. You immediately notice that this horse has only one line of Northern Dancer and that in his 5th generation. As a sire he would be a real outcross to mares full of Sadler’s Wells (and his sons/grandsons) blood or Danzig (ditto) blood. That makes him attractive.
His sire is Halling who was by Dieisis, a full-brother of Kris, both being by Sharpen Up. This colt was the leading 2yo of 1971 (a good year for 2yos with High top, Jacinth, Noble Decree, Waterloo and Sallust), with his main victory being the Middle Park Stakes in which he defeated Philip of Spain and Sun Prince. As a 3yo he failed to add to his wins coming 2nd in both the Greenham Stakes and the July Cup. He never won over further than 6f. He was by an unknown stallion called Atan who had won his only race before injuring himself. Retired to stud in Kentucky, a few years later he was bought by Tim Rogers to stand at his stud in Ireland. After the success of Sharpen Up he was sold by Rogers to Japan. Atan was by Native Dancer, a great sire and racehorse in the USA, who traced back like many horses today to Phalaris, whose son Sickle ( a half-brother to Hyperion) was exported by Lord Derby to the USA. Atan’s pedigree looks American but his distaff side is British tracing back to the dam of the Royal Stud’s root mare Feola (ancestress of Aureole, Highclere and Nashwan). Sharpen Up’s distaff side is similarly strongly British tracing back to the 1919 Oaks winner.
Sharpen Up’s name as a sire was made when Lord Howard de Walden said to Leslie Harrison to send his maiden, and lowly rated mare, Doubly Sure ‘to that sire down the road’. At that time Sharpen Up was standing for 200guineas a covering. How times have changed! Today a sire like Sharpen Up (with his 2yo career) would be snapped up as a young sire to produce fast 2yos a la Sir Prancealot etc.. The resulting colt was the champion miler Kris. A few years later a duplicate covering led to Dieisis. Both brothers were good to very good sires but Kris did not produce a worthwhile son and Dieisis seems to be represented solely by Halling who was top class at 10f. But Halling is now dead so Jack Hobbs offers an opportunity to extend the influence of this sire line.
What about Jack Hobb’s distaff side. He was bred by Minster Stud and his dam is Swain’s Gold. This filly was bred in the USA but raced in England and was purchased by Willie Carson. It could be that being by Swain (Nashwan’s best son) was the thing that attracted him to the filly. Although she was listed as USA bred she really has a UK/Irish pedigree and this comes to you once her 4th dam is seen. She is a mare called Nagaika, who Jim Joel bought to add to his stud in the late ‘50s. Her famous son was the tough St Paddy colt Connaught. A top-class colt who went from being amazingly frustrating to being sometimes consistent.
In 1966 it was obvious to everyone that Noel Murless thought he had a great 2yo colt in Jim Joel’s Royal Palace: and he did. A year later it was similarly known that he had another 2yo colt in the huge Connaught. After his first two ‘races’ it was hard to believe Connaught deserved to be mentioned in the same breath as his older stablemate. On his first start at York he was unruly and would not enter the stalls. He got off in the Observer Gold Cup but was a remote 5th to Vaguely Noble. Murless did not lose faith in him and he started his 3yo career in the Greenham Stakes. Again he was unruly and would not enter the stalls. Frustrated Murless then arranged some remedial stalls work on Warren Hill and he went through a routine of going into the stalls, jumping off fast and then galloping for a few furlongs before returning to go through the stalls again. Murless then sent him to Newmarket for a tough 2000G for which he started a 13/2 third favourite, such was the local belief in him. Connaught had learnt his lesson (too well) and jumped off and after about 2f tried to pull himself up: he eventually finished 9th of 10 to Sir Ivor.
Murless decided to give him one more chance before he was gelded. A week later he went to Chester and behaving himself ran the Derby 2nd favourite Remand to half a length, with Connaught receiving 4lbs. After that he went to Epsom and behaving himself again he took up the running 8f out and went clear coming into the straight. He looked the winner a furlong out but was easily beaten by a late Sir Ivor rush. At last he had earned some money and a few weeks later he won his first race when winning the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, when beating Ribero by 12 lengths: Ribero later won the Irish Derby and St Leger.
He went on to win the Great Voltigeur, 2 Prince of Wales Stakes (so a winner at 3 consecutive Royal Ascots), two other G3 races and an Eclipse. He spat out his dummy now and then and didn’t really stay 12f. He was a resolute galloper without a real kick, but what a galloper. When winning his first PoW he broke the course record by 4 seconds. When he won the Eclipse he broke a 9 year old course record. He was an admirable horse: but enough of him for now, who is his half-sister who happens to be Jack Hobbs 4th dam.
Her name was Daffodil Day and was bred by Joel using his own-bred sire Welsh Pageant, who was from the same family as Royal Palace, and who himself was a useful miler (Lockinge twice, Queen Anne and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes). She was trained by Cecil and failed to win in 2 starts. She was sold by Joel but Jack Hobbs 3rd dam was an unraced filly called Golden Bloom who was surprisingly by Joel’s good Mill Reef colt Main Reef (who again was from the Royal Palace family and a good 2yo as well as winner as a 3yo and 4yo). You could not have a more Joel influenced 3rd dam.
The 2nd dam is Golden Pond who is by Don’t Forget Me, who introduces the Djebel/Ahonoora line, and was a G2 and G3 winner. She, when bred to Swain, produced Swain’s Gold. Golden Pond’s other filly was Brazilian who was a very tough filly in the USa and who has bred a couple of good foals who won races in the USA. So the promise of Nagaika has come through with the toughness of her son Connaught. Jack Hobbs has the ingredients to be a fine sire.
The problem is despite all the positives will he be patronized by the often parochial breeding world? He is a definite 12f horse, although very capable of winning over 10f at G1 (he hasn’t so far) and a winner as a 2yo, and that may count against him. It shouldn’t. I’m sure he’ll become a sire, it is just whether he becomes a flat or NH sire. I hope the former.
Jack Hobbs is one of the few representatives of an old and important sire line, but also comes from a distaff line that evokes memories of a tough horse and his breeder. First let’s look at the pedigree of Jack Hobbs. You immediately notice that this horse has only one line of Northern Dancer and that in his 5th generation. As a sire he would be a real outcross to mares full of Sadler’s Wells (and his sons/grandsons) blood or Danzig (ditto) blood. That makes him attractive.
His sire is Halling who was by Dieisis, a full-brother of Kris, both being by Sharpen Up. This colt was the leading 2yo of 1971 (a good year for 2yos with High top, Jacinth, Noble Decree, Waterloo and Sallust), with his main victory being the Middle Park Stakes in which he defeated Philip of Spain and Sun Prince. As a 3yo he failed to add to his wins coming 2nd in both the Greenham Stakes and the July Cup. He never won over further than 6f. He was by an unknown stallion called Atan who had won his only race before injuring himself. Retired to stud in Kentucky, a few years later he was bought by Tim Rogers to stand at his stud in Ireland. After the success of Sharpen Up he was sold by Rogers to Japan. Atan was by Native Dancer, a great sire and racehorse in the USA, who traced back like many horses today to Phalaris, whose son Sickle ( a half-brother to Hyperion) was exported by Lord Derby to the USA. Atan’s pedigree looks American but his distaff side is British tracing back to the dam of the Royal Stud’s root mare Feola (ancestress of Aureole, Highclere and Nashwan). Sharpen Up’s distaff side is similarly strongly British tracing back to the 1919 Oaks winner.
Sharpen Up’s name as a sire was made when Lord Howard de Walden said to Leslie Harrison to send his maiden, and lowly rated mare, Doubly Sure ‘to that sire down the road’. At that time Sharpen Up was standing for 200guineas a covering. How times have changed! Today a sire like Sharpen Up (with his 2yo career) would be snapped up as a young sire to produce fast 2yos a la Sir Prancealot etc.. The resulting colt was the champion miler Kris. A few years later a duplicate covering led to Dieisis. Both brothers were good to very good sires but Kris did not produce a worthwhile son and Dieisis seems to be represented solely by Halling who was top class at 10f. But Halling is now dead so Jack Hobbs offers an opportunity to extend the influence of this sire line.
What about Jack Hobb’s distaff side. He was bred by Minster Stud and his dam is Swain’s Gold. This filly was bred in the USA but raced in England and was purchased by Willie Carson. It could be that being by Swain (Nashwan’s best son) was the thing that attracted him to the filly. Although she was listed as USA bred she really has a UK/Irish pedigree and this comes to you once her 4th dam is seen. She is a mare called Nagaika, who Jim Joel bought to add to his stud in the late ‘50s. Her famous son was the tough St Paddy colt Connaught. A top-class colt who went from being amazingly frustrating to being sometimes consistent.
In 1966 it was obvious to everyone that Noel Murless thought he had a great 2yo colt in Jim Joel’s Royal Palace: and he did. A year later it was similarly known that he had another 2yo colt in the huge Connaught. After his first two ‘races’ it was hard to believe Connaught deserved to be mentioned in the same breath as his older stablemate. On his first start at York he was unruly and would not enter the stalls. He got off in the Observer Gold Cup but was a remote 5th to Vaguely Noble. Murless did not lose faith in him and he started his 3yo career in the Greenham Stakes. Again he was unruly and would not enter the stalls. Frustrated Murless then arranged some remedial stalls work on Warren Hill and he went through a routine of going into the stalls, jumping off fast and then galloping for a few furlongs before returning to go through the stalls again. Murless then sent him to Newmarket for a tough 2000G for which he started a 13/2 third favourite, such was the local belief in him. Connaught had learnt his lesson (too well) and jumped off and after about 2f tried to pull himself up: he eventually finished 9th of 10 to Sir Ivor.
Murless decided to give him one more chance before he was gelded. A week later he went to Chester and behaving himself ran the Derby 2nd favourite Remand to half a length, with Connaught receiving 4lbs. After that he went to Epsom and behaving himself again he took up the running 8f out and went clear coming into the straight. He looked the winner a furlong out but was easily beaten by a late Sir Ivor rush. At last he had earned some money and a few weeks later he won his first race when winning the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, when beating Ribero by 12 lengths: Ribero later won the Irish Derby and St Leger.
He went on to win the Great Voltigeur, 2 Prince of Wales Stakes (so a winner at 3 consecutive Royal Ascots), two other G3 races and an Eclipse. He spat out his dummy now and then and didn’t really stay 12f. He was a resolute galloper without a real kick, but what a galloper. When winning his first PoW he broke the course record by 4 seconds. When he won the Eclipse he broke a 9 year old course record. He was an admirable horse: but enough of him for now, who is his half-sister who happens to be Jack Hobbs 4th dam.
Her name was Daffodil Day and was bred by Joel using his own-bred sire Welsh Pageant, who was from the same family as Royal Palace, and who himself was a useful miler (Lockinge twice, Queen Anne and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes). She was trained by Cecil and failed to win in 2 starts. She was sold by Joel but Jack Hobbs 3rd dam was an unraced filly called Golden Bloom who was surprisingly by Joel’s good Mill Reef colt Main Reef (who again was from the Royal Palace family and a good 2yo as well as winner as a 3yo and 4yo). You could not have a more Joel influenced 3rd dam.
The 2nd dam is Golden Pond who is by Don’t Forget Me, who introduces the Djebel/Ahonoora line, and was a G2 and G3 winner. She, when bred to Swain, produced Swain’s Gold. Golden Pond’s other filly was Brazilian who was a very tough filly in the USa and who has bred a couple of good foals who won races in the USA. So the promise of Nagaika has come through with the toughness of her son Connaught. Jack Hobbs has the ingredients to be a fine sire.
The problem is despite all the positives will he be patronized by the often parochial breeding world? He is a definite 12f horse, although very capable of winning over 10f at G1 (he hasn’t so far) and a winner as a 2yo, and that may count against him. It shouldn’t. I’m sure he’ll become a sire, it is just whether he becomes a flat or NH sire. I hope the former.
Last edited:
. Did anyone see the article on the Racing Post (which I can't see as I'm not a member) and which was posted the same day as mine?