CHIEFDOM is one of the most progressive horses currently racing in the UAE and last week he won the Group 3 Jebel Ali Mile.

In so doing he became the third stakes winner for his dam Sultana (Storm Cat). She had been purchased by Blandford Bloodstock as a 12-year-old, an investment that has been rewarding.

The foal she was carrying made $150,000, while others since have sold for $335,000 and $300,000 as yearlings.

The last figure was paid for Chiefdom himself, and he too was bought by Blandford Bloodstock. He is now one of seven graded stakes winners for the dual Grade 1 winner The Factor (War Front), and that list is headed by the Grade 1 winning duo of Cistron and Noted And Quoted.

Chiefdom is a half-brother to Derbaas (Seeking The Gold). He was placed in the Group 3 Somerville Tattersalls Stakes at two when trained by Ed Dunlop, but in the UAE he won seven times, most importantly landing the Group 2 Al Fahidi Fort at Meydan. Chiefdom is on track to emulate him.

Sultana was a minor winner in the USA but the best of her four successful siblings was Aljabr (Storm Cat), her multiple Group 1 winning full-brother. He was named European champion juvenile colt in 1998 when he was unbeaten in three starts, including the Group 1 Prix de la Salamandre. Training problems restricted Aljabr to only six races in the next two seasons, but he won the Group 1 Sussex Stakes at three and the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at four.

He was the best of the offspring of Sierra Madre (Baillamont) and she was one of the finest juvenile fillies of her generation. She won the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac at two and trained on the following season to add the Group 1 Prix Vermeille. Sultana was one of a pair of her daughters to breed a stakes winner.

While there are no further Group 1 winners in the immediate family. Sierra Madre’s grandam Le Ferte Milon (Timmy Lad) bred the then Group 2 (now a Group 1) Prix Jean Prat winner Dom Racine (Kalamoun) who went on to enjoy success as a stallion.