A Brief History |
1971 |
1998 |
A Brief History of Twinoak Zahress and Her Forebears |
Twinoak Zahress was purchased by us in the United States in 1974 and was brought out to Australia in 1975. During her 4 1/2 years in the US she was trained for English Pleasure events in which she was shown with considerable success. She was also trained for harness. She matured into a very correct, compact mare and was a valuable asset to the upgrading of the Australian breeding scene. |
Tobruk |
Zarife |
Fadl |
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Zahress is a very interesting blend of bloodlines - here suggesting that to obtain the desired product, one single bloodline is perhaps not necessarily the answer. She is by Zahr who is 62 1/2% Egyptian, 25% Crabbett/Polish, 12 1/2% Polish. Her dam is Davanna Gemma who is 50% Egyptian, 25% Polish, 25% Hungarian. In fact her breeding has quite an absorbing historical background. |
The tail line mare on the pedigree, 243 Mersuch 111-3, was one of the spoils of war acquired by General Patton during the last world war. She had been bred at the Babolna Stud in Hungary and in 1944 as the Russian Front moved nearer she was part of a consignment shipped to the remount depot of Bergstetten in Germany. In April 1945 the American troops took occupation of this area of Bavaria and after the war, 243 Mersuch 111-3 found herself, along with at least sixteen other Polish Arabs, being extracted and shipped to the remount depot at the former Kellogg Ranch in America. |
I (Lorri) wrote to the Director of the Hungarian Stud for more details of this mare's breeding and received a letter from the Director confirming the mare's capture during the war and he described how her breeding descends from Arabs imported from the desert to Babolna in the year 1800. It is fascinating to note in the official extended pedigree which he enclosed that the old favourite Skowronek pops up again in the third line. He concluded with the comment on Twinoak Zahress that there is to be found in her pedigree, lines which "represent absolutely great genetic worth". |
Tobruk, Zahress' maternal grandsire, was bred in America by Henry Babson and his parentage reads like a 'Who's Who' in Polish and Egyptian breeding. Space prevents a study into the illustrious breeding feats of Fadl and Bint Serra. Suffice to say that another grandson of Fadl, also crossed with Polish blood, the fabulous Fadjur, at the age of 23 was champion stallion at Santa Barbara, California in 1975 and is the sire of more than 600 purebreds with descendants in at least 46 states of America and 6 foreign countries. |
Sulejman, Tobruk's sire, was a successful racehorse in Poland, attaining nine places from eleven starts. Little wonder that Tobruk was proclaimed by many to be a great riding horse. Roxana, by Tobruk, is the dam of Amurath Czortana who is by Czortan and thereby the same combination of bloodlines as Zahress' colt Djaat. Amurath Czortana is a highly decorated mare. |
Zarife of course needs no introduction to breeders of Egyptian lines and in fact he features in some of Australia's Egyptian imports. Some of his famous American progeny include Hallany Mistanny and Razifa - the foundation mare of the greatest line of endurance race winners in the USA. Habina was the dam of Bak who sold for $US80,000 about 25 years ago. Habina was by Hallany Mistanny. |
