| Oasis Dream’s influence is pretty much everywhere you look. He has a growing cast of sons at stud, some of whom now have their own sons at stud too, and he has also been a top five broodmare sire in Britain and Ireland for each of the last five years.
His immense impact was, at least in part, encapsulated in the Prix Imprudence earlier this week. Four of the nine-strong field descended from Oasis Dream, with two daughters, a granddaughter and a great granddaughter. The outcome of that Deauville Group 3 served as a reminder that the 25-year-old still has plenty to offer in the most direct sense, as his two daughters duly finished first and second.
Fittingly the winner was a homebred who carried the Juddmonte silks, just as Oasis Dream did during his time on the track. Following Better Together's snug length success, the three-year-old filly looks to have every chance of becoming a 19th Group 1 winner for her increasingly influential sire.
“It was an exciting finish and there were a few of the team together shouting her home,” says Shane Horan, Juddmonte’s nominations manager. “There were the two Oasis Dream fillies in the race who finished first and second, and it’s great to see that the stallion can still produce the goods.
“They were bred when he was 22. There’s obviously a lot of talk about horses still being able to do it when they get to that age, but he certainly is. We call him the evergreen Oasis Dream – he does it all and just keeps doing it.”
This year is Oasis Dream’s 22nd consecutive season on covering duty at Banstead Manor Stud. Horan reports the son of Green Desert is showing no signs of slowing down.
“With his age we’ve been cutting back on his numbers, but mentally he would cover 300 mares a year if you let him,” he says. “Last year we were talking about 50 mares and he ended up with more than that [covered 72 with 67 in foal]. His fertility has held up phenomenally well; he was at 93 per cent last year. He looks really well and he maintains all the enthusiasm he’s ever had.”
Having been at stud since 2004, Oasis Dream now finds himself surrounded by young upstarts. He shares the Juddmonte stallion yard with Bated Breath, Chaldean, Frankel and Kingman, which is lofty company to be keeping, particularly in the case of the latter pair. Nonetheless, Banstead Manor is still very much Oasis Dream’s patch, at least as far as he is concerned
“He’s a very typical Green Desert stallion in that he has that alpha male mentality,” says Horan. “He genuinely thinks that every mare that comes through the gate is for him. That’s just the way he is – he’s the boss of that yard. He might be the smallest, but mentally he’s definitely the alpha male. He loves his job though and he’s a happy horse. Simon [Mockridge, general manager] has always said that if he wasn’t allowed to cover mares then he’d be a very unhappy horse.”
This alpha male energy has not only helped Oasis Dream produce 234 stakes horses, but has established his own branch of the Green Desert sireline too.
Weatherbys’ stallion book lists five sons at stud this year, including the proven Group 1 sire Muhaarar, who stands at Haras du Petit Tellier, and promising Kildangan Stud resident Native Trail. But the most accomplished of the quintet, and by some way, is Juddmonte homebred Showcasing, who has stood at Whitsbury Manor since 2011. In that time he has come up with 147 stakes performers, including the Group 1 scorers Advertise, Belbek, Mohaather and Quiet Reflection.
The first three of those are now doing their bit to extend Oasis Dream’s influence from stud, while Showcasing is also the sire of Alkumait, Soldier’s Call and Tasleet, who are also standing in Ireland, Britain and India respectively.
Moreover, Tasleet is also the sire of triple Group 1-winning sprinter Bradsell, who has taken up a berth at the National Stud for 2025. This means that when Bradsell’s first foals arrive early next year, Oasis Dream will already be back in the fourth generation of the family, which is quite a feat for a horse still on covering duty himself.
Oasis Dream (pictured below, credit Juddmonte) has also become a significant influence in the distaff side of pedigrees too. He is the damsire of 214 black type horses, including 16 who have struck at the highest level.
| Although Oasis Dream is by Green Desert and out of a mare by Dancing Brave, a pair who finished second and first in the 1986 2,000 Guineas, sprinting was very much his metier, as he showed when landing the Middle Park, July Cup and Nunthorpe Stakes. But one of the hallmarks of his time at stud has been his versatility, coming up with the likes of top-class two-year-olds Charming Thought and Native Trail, an exceptional sprinter in Muhaarar and a brilliant middle distance filly in Midday, to name but a few.
And he is proving a real all-rounder as a broodmare sire as well, with his daughters at paddocks responsible for top juveniles like Big Evs and Sioux Nation, who are also carrying the Oasis Dream name forward into pedigrees from their positions at stud, a Classic winner in Siskin and Group 1-winning stayer Quickthorn. His impact as a broodmare sire has also been felt on the global stage through the likes of Saratoga Derby scorers Nations Pride and Program Trading, and in Australia courtesy of Cox Plate hero Sir Dragonet and Melbourne Cup winner Twilight Payment.
Horan reports that Oasis Dream has already met his target for this year’s book of mares, with plenty of the breeders crossing their fingers for a daughter to add to their broodmare band.
“We said if he could get 50 mares this year that would be great, and he’s at that number now,” he says. “There’s been a few inquiries since Tuesday as well. He’s obviously had a lot of good colts throughout his career but, because he’s touching 60 individual daughters who’ve bred a Group winner, a lot of the people who are using him now are wanting a filly and to nurture a family. Oasis Dream is one of those great stallion’s who’s really made his mark. He’s got sons at stud and now he’s a phenomenal broodmare sire as well.”
Whether they get a filly or a colt, it would be fair to suggest those breeders have definitely secured value for money. Oasis Dream is standing his second consecutive season at a fee of just £15,000, which is an absolute snip considering the horse’s lengthy roll of honour. He commanded as much as £85,000 in his pomp, but his current fee is a reflection of the market’s aversion to older stallions as much as anything.
“As horses get older, it’s unfortunate that they get taken for granted and people might start to feel they’ve been there, done that,” says Horan. “For many years we found that his greatest competition was from his own sons at stud when the new ones retired. But, realistically, if a son of Oasis Dream went to stud and did half as well as him then he’d be considered a success. Most breeders struggle to find a proven sire at sensible money, but few have achieved what Oasis Dream has achieved.”
Oasis Dream’s daughters have enjoyed a fruitful association with Galileo and his various sire sons, and that relationship looks like being maintained with his studmate Frankel. The two-time champion sire has already bred one Group 1 winner out of an Oasis Dream mare in Prix de la Foret scorer Kelina, while champion two-year-old filly Lake Victoria is by Frankel and out of Showcasing’s daughter Quiet Reflection. All told, 11 of Frankel’s 236 stakes horses feature Oasis Dream as broodmare sire, a list that includes the likes of the globetrotting Spirit Dancer and the Prix de Sandringham winner Obligate.
“He’s made his mark as a broodmare sire and what’s very encouraging is how well he’s working with Frankel,” says Horan. “We’re seeing that through his line because the current champion two-year-old is Lake Victoria and she’s out of a Showcasing mare. Frankel’s already had two Group 1 winners out of mares from his line, so that’s encouraging going forward. Of course he’s closely related to Kingman, and last year’s French Oaks winner Sparkling Plenty is by Kingman out of a Frankel mare, so these are all really positive signs that will encourage us to keep drilling for oil there.”
Juddmonte’s own broodmare band currently includes seven daughters of Oasis Dream, including Siskin’s dam Bird Flown and Frankel’s half-sister Joyeuse, who has bred no less than five black type performers, including Mill Reef Stakes winner Array. That pair are set to visit Frankel and No Nay Never respectively this season.
Better Together is not the only three-year-old filly who looks capable of keeping Oasis Dream’s name in lights this year, as the Owen Burrows-trained Glittering Surf looked every inch a Pattern performer in waiting when comfortably landing a warmly contested Kempton conditions event last time out.
That effort took the filly’s record to two from two, and although her owner-breeder Peter Winkworth is seemingly intent on bypassing the Guineas, an entry in the Coronation Stakes was mooted after her latest success. Interestingly, Glittering Surf is out of a Frankel mare.
Should Better Together or Glittering Surf take the step up to the top level later this season, it would pay a fine tribute to one of the best stallions of the modern era.
“Without wanting to play on his name, he’s been the dream stallion,” says Horan. “He was born on the farm, he’s Juddmonte through and through – even his broodmare sire is Dancing Brave. He was a brilliant racehorse and was an instant success as a stallion and he’s been able to keep that success going for a very long time. With age he hasn’t quite got the same quality of mares as he did in his prime, but he can still produce a good horse – it wasn’t that long ago that Native Trail was champion two-year-old.”
Although the current breeding season has not yet drawn to a close, Horan can’t rule out Oasis Dream standing a 23rd term in 2026.
“He’ll tell us when he’s ready to stop,” he says. “Judging on fertility, he’s thriving, so we’ll keep going as long as he’s happy and able to do so. Mr Prospector had a Group 1 conceived when he was 26 or 27, so it’s possible.” |
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Oasis Dream, 2023 (c) Marina CanoEurope
