SOMETIMES it seems as though there is an unwritten rule that an apparently disappointing stallion’s best results will happen when he is no longer available locally. A reminder of this was provided at Sandown eight days ago when My Dream Boat won the Group 3 bet365 Gordon Richards Stakes.

This was his first attempt at 10 furlongs, last year he won a listed contest at Chantilly and the Group 3 Prix Perth at Saint-Cloud, both over a mile, and although further improvement is needed to win either of the major events in which he holds an entry, sneaking into the frame is not impossible.

The Group 1 Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes and the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes are part of the British Champions Series.

My Dream Boat is a first-crop son of former Irish National Stud stallion Lord Shanakill (by Speightstown), the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat scorer who is now in his first season at Pin Oak Lane Farm in Pennsylvania.

He was bred by Patrick Monahan of Knockcross Stud in Co Meath, and he another good example of the sort of horse that can be found at the Goffs Sportsman Sale. He cost just €16,000 there and later made £40,000 at the Breeze-Up Sale in Doncaster.

The second foal out of the six-furlong scorer Betty Burke (by Choisir), he is a half-brother to a winner in Italy, and his dam’s only other registered foal is an Elnadim (by Danzig) colt born last year

The mare is a half-sister to a couple of multiple Italian winners and her dam, Island Lover (by Turtle Island), was unraced, but if you look at the third generation of the family you find a lot of blacktype and some famous names.

Loveliest (by Tibaldo), the third dam of My Dream Boat, was placed in the Group 3 Prix Penelope and in the Listed Prix Finlande, and her 10 successful progeny included a trio of blacktype-winning daughters.

Indian Romance (by Raja Baba) won a listed contest in the USA and is the grandam of the prolific blacktype earner Last Romance (by Wild Rush), a mile stakes winner whose placings feature third in both the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes and Grade 1 Gazelle Stakes.

Dangerous Diva (by Royal Academy) won the Listed Athasi Stakes, was runner-up in the Group 3 Desmond Stakes and then third in the Group 3 Matron Stakes, all at the Curragh in 1997.

Best of the trio was Optimistic Lass (by Mr Prospector) who won the Group 2 Nassau Stakes and Group 3 Musidora Stakes in 1984, was third in the Group 2 Sun Chariot Stakes and finished fourth behind Circus Plume in the Group 1 Oaks at Epsom.

Her first foal was also her best as Optimistic Lass was the dam of Golden Opinion (by Slew O’ Gold), the classic-placed Group 1 Coronation Stakes heroine who failed by just a head to beat Cadeaux Genereux in the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket, a race run in record time and in which Danehill took third.

None of Golden Opinion’s progeny became a stakes winner, but her string of blacktype descendants includes the Group 3 Prix Allez France winner and Group 2 Prix Corrida third Daksha (by Authorized), a grand-daughter who also won a pair of listed contests.

Golden Opinion’s half-sister Joyful (by Green Desert), whose Canford Cliffs (by Tagula) foal made €38,000 in Goffs in November, is the dam of the stakes-placed prolific sprint handicap winner Roker Park (by Choisir) and the grandam of three notable individuals, one of whom is a stallion in Italy.

He is Shaweel (by Dansili), a leading juvenile who won the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes, was short-headed by Mastercraftsman in the Group 1 National Stakes and was then a close fourth behind Intense Focus in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes, beaten by just two noses and half a length.

NIJOOM DUBAI

He is out of the mile winner Cooden Beach (by Peintre Celebre) and it is that mare’s unraced half-sister Aileen’s Gift (by Rainbow Quest) who is responsible for shock Group 3 Albany Stakes winner Nijoom Dubai (by Noverre) and also for Samitar (by Rock Of Gibraltar), the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas and Grade 1 Garden City Stakes heroine of 2012.

Samitar, who also won the Group 3 Albany Stakes as a juvenile and was runner-up in that year’s Group 1 Fillies’ Mile, stayed in the USA as a four-year-old, adding listed wins at Belmont Park and Saratoga and making the frame in three graded events, notably the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes over eight and a half furlongs at Keeneland, bringing her career earnings past the $1.1 million mark.

The combination of representing the first crop of his sire and having little of note in the first two generations of his pedigree likely contributed to his low price at the yearling sales, but My Dream Boat clearly has plenty of ability and he is one of the best colts in his family.