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Elmaamul is a new arrival to Beechwood Grange Stud, but is no newcomer to stud as he is already an established sire.
The son of Diesis has been repatriated to the UK from Italy due to the success of his progeny here last season, notably the promising juveniles, Lateen Sails, Salcombe and Sweet Return. His place at Allevamento di Besnate has been taken by another Hamdan Al Maktoum stallion, Mutamam.
One can identify the breeder of so many stallions by their pedigrees and Elmaamul has Juddmonte Farms written all over him. In fact, he was not bred by Khalid Abdullah but by his adviser, Rhydian Morgan-Jones, who at one time leased a number of Juddmonte mares.
Elmaamul is the first foal of his unraced dam Modena, and was bred in the U.S, but by the time she produced the 1997 Oaks heroine, Reams of Verse, she had reverted to Juddmonte ownership.
Now 20 years of age, she too has been repatriated, and for the past three covering seasons (2000 - 2002) has been mated with Sadlers Wells.
Sold as a foal in the U.S for $185,000, Elmaamul cost Sheikh Hamdan IR320,000 gns as a yearling and he proved to be an outstanding three-year-old over 10 furlongs, winning the Eclipse Stakes and Irish Champion Stakes. He was also runner-up to Into The Groove in the International Stakes and third to Quest For Fame in the Derby.
This is Elmaamul's second stint in the UK as, after starting off at the Shadwell Stud Farm in Kentucky, he stood at Khalid Abdullah's Eagle Lane Farm, just down the road from Banstead, where Morgan-Jones, used to have his Newmarket office.
The fact that Elmaamul has stood on both sides of the Atlantic in reflected by his stud record. With his first nine crops of racing age he has sired the winners of around 450 races and more than £4m around the world. His best son is Muhtathir (Prix Jacques Le Marois) and his best daughter is Bandeira Nativa, an outstanding racemare in Brazil.
Elmaamul is a grandson of Modifa, the grandam of the former Banstead Manor stallion, Zafonic, who died last year in Australia. |