Key Victory the latest example of Dubawi mares clicking with sons of Galileo

The exciting Key Victory maintained his unbeaten record and provided his sire, Teofilo, with a 74th Pattern scorer when running out a stylish winner of the Listed Havana Gold Newmarket Stakes on Saturday.

The French Derby was mooted as a possible target for the three-year-old in the aftermath of his stakes race breakthrough, and his pedigree contains plenty of names that support the evidence that Key Victory could be a Group 1 colt in the making.

He is from the seventh crop of Kildangan Stud resident Teofilo, who has supplied 14 Group 1 winners, and 116 stakes performers, since beginning covering duty in 2008.

Teofilo's leading performers by Racing Post Ratings (RPR) include Prix Jean Prat winner and flying sophomore sire Havana Gold, New Zealand-bred dual Group 1 scorer Humidor, Dewhurst Stakes hero Parish Hall, and Irish 1,000 Guineas and Yorkshire Oaks heroine Pleascach.

View full replay of Key Victory's impressive Newmarket success

Key Victory is a second-generation Darley homebred being out of Patroness, a placed Dubawi sister to top-class miler Poet's Voice, who won the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes before going on to sire 13 stakes winners during a stud career that was cruelly cut short earlier this year.

Patroness has now produced two black-type winners from as many runners, as her first foal, Blair House, recorded his first stakes success in the Group 1 Jebel Hatta at Meydan back in March.

Patroness is out of Bright Tiara, a winning half-sister to Grade 1 winner Chief Honcho who was bought by John Ferguson for $3 million at Keeneland back in November 2000.

In the pipeline for Patroness is a two-year-old Invincible Spirit filly named Lover's Knot and a yearling colt by New Approach. She visited Dark Angel in 2017.

The Teofilo - Dubawi cross has proved a rich source of talent, albeit from a small sample size, with four winners from as many runners bred along those lines. The quartet also includes the dual Listed winner Mildenberger and the smart Festive Fare.

Moreover, daughters of Dubawi have evidently clicked well with Galileo-line sires. Three of the top five performers out of Dubawi mares by RPRs are Dream Castle, Festive Fare and Hey Gaman, who are by Frankel, Teofilo and New Approach respectively.

A reverse variation of this cross has also produced a host of big talents, with Night Of Thunder and Dartmouth among Dubawi's leading performers produced by daughters of Galileo.

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