Zabeel's Enduring Impact on the Queensland Oaks

Kristen Manning

Editor

Last updated: Thu 04 Jun 2026 10:03

Kristen Manning 3 hours ago

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Zabeel's bloodline appears in 39% of 2026 Queensland Oaks runners
He has sired and influenced numerous Oaks, Melbourne Cup, and Cox Plate champions
His legacy sets benchmarks in classic race pedigrees and breeding

Dawnie Perfect winning the Ethereal Stakes on Caulfield Cup Day in 2015. Her dam, Zagalia, was the second of five Queensland Oaks winners by Zabeel. (Getty)

First run in 1951, the Queensland Oaks may not be Australia's oldest Oaks, but it does boast an excellent record of classy winners, its honour roll including the likes of Evening Peal, Analie, Denise's Joy, Surround, Triscay, Slight Chance, Ethereal and, of course, the mighty Winx.

Zabeel's Multiple Big Race Winners
Zabeel's 2026 Queensland Oaks Influence

It is always interesting to look at breeding angles when assessing Classics, and in recent times there is one name that stands out in regard to Queensland Oaks influence - the star stallion Zabeel.

Whilst he was a high-class galloper, winning seven of his 19 starts including the Group 1 Australian Guineas and three Group 2 contests, it is for his stud career that Zabeel is most revered.

And rightly so, with Zabeel earning two Australian Champion Sire titles and four in New Zealand, where he won the coveted Dewar Trophy (combined Australian and New Zealand earnings) on 15 occasions, with his son Savabeel adding a further nine.

Zabeel's Multiple Big Race Winners

Of the 23 fillies accepted to run in this year's Queensland Oaks, nine (39.1%) have Zabeel in their pedigrees, as do 10 previous winners, including five of his daughters: Zacheline (1998), Zagalia (2003), Vouvray (2004), Gondokoro (2013, with fellow Zabeel filly Miss Zenella second) and Provocative (2016).

This is a record right up there in terms of stallions siring multiple winners of the race, and he also sired five Group 1 Auckland Cup winners - Jezabeel (1998), Able Master (2000), Our Unicorn (2001), Bazelle (2005) and Zavite (2010).

Add to that four Group 1 W.S. Cox Plate winners (Octagonal 1995, Might And Power 1998, Savabeel 2004 and Maldivian 2008), plus three winners each of the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (Might And Power 1997, Jezabeel 1998 and Efficient 2007) and the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (Might And Power 1997, Sky Heights 1999 - with his daughters Laebeel and Inaflury running second and third - and Railings 2005), and Zabeel is a breeding force to be reckoned with.

The first of his Queensland Oaks winners, Zacheline, had also won the Group 1 South Australian Oaks. Out of a half-sister to the Group 1 Kentucky Derby hero Ferdinand, she produced six winners, though none achieved black-type success.

Zagalia fared better at stud, producing the Group 3 winner Dawnie Perfect, whilst Vouvray, a daughter of the triple Group winner Real Success, is the grandam of Pride Of Jenni.

Still at stud, Gondokoro - whose full brother Zabeelionaire won the Group 1 South Australian Derby - has produced three winners so far, whilst Provocative, whose dam Betwixt won the Group 3 Tasmanian Derby, has had two winners, including the stakes-placed Grinzinger Lord.

Zabeel also influenced the Queensland Oaks as the dam sire of the 2009 winner Purple, and he also features in the pedigrees of the 2011 winner Scarlett Lady (by Savabeel), the 2012 winner Quintessential (by Fast 'N' Famous, who is out of a Zabeel mare), the 2022 winner Gypsy Goddess (by Tarzino, who is out of a Zabeel mare) and the 2024 winner Socks Nation, whose grandam is by Zabeel's star grandson Lonhro.

Zabeel's influence will again be on display at Eagle Farm this weekend, with nine runners in the 2026 edition tracing back to the champion sire.

Zabeel's 2026 Queensland Oaks Influence

Panova (Trapeze Artist): Favourite for the race and, as a $325,000 Magic Millions graduate, the most expensive runner. The last-start Group 1 Australasian Oaks winner is out of a half-sister to the Group 3 Red Anchor Stakes winner Aramani from the family of Marscay and Subzero. Her dam sire Trusting is out of the Group 2 Sandown Classic-winning Zabeel mare Legible.

Fireball Miss (Bivouac): Also prominent in the market, she is a $140,000 Inglis Easter half-sister to last year's Group 1 South Australian Derby winner Femminile, out of the stakes-placed Femme Fireball, whose sire is Zabeel's five-time Group 1-winning great-grandson Pierro.

Paltrow Miss (Circus Maximus): Coming off a third placing in the Australasian Oaks, she is out of a metropolitan-winning granddaughter of the Group 3 winner Alabaq, whose dam Salsabil won five Group 1 races, including the Epsom Oaks and the Irish Derby. She is out of a mare by Zabeel's Group 1 W.S. Cox Plate-winning son Savabeel.

Chispa (Savabeel): The second favourite is one of two runners attempting to become the second Queensland Oaks winner for Savabeel, whose daughter Scarlett Lady was successful in 2011. A home-bred for Sir Peter Vela, who won the race with Ethereal in 2001, she is one of three fillies from the prolific Pretty Polly family in the field. She is out of the imported Group 3-winning Galileo mare Scintillula, who ran fourth in two Oaks races.

Solid Gold (Savabeel): Another leading contender, this Waikato Stud home-bred is a full sister to the 2023 Group 1 ATC Derby winner Major Beel.

Zuleika (North Pacific): Her sire's second dam sire is Zabeel's superstar son Octagonal. A bargain $20,000 weanling purchase, she is out of an imported Dubawi mare whose dual Group-winning grandam Wajd is a daughter of an all-time great - the dual British Horse of the Year and US Champion Turf Horse, Dahlia.

Highgrove Rose (King's Legacy): A $200,000 Magic Millions yearling, she is out of Savabeel's two-time Group-winning daughter Chintz, who has also produced the multiple stakes-winning sprinter Not An Option. Her Group 3-winning grandam Seraphic is out of the Group 2 Great Northern Oaks winner Torquay.

Sheeza Diva (Pierro): Purchased as a weanling for just $15,000, this longshot runner from the Zabeel sire line is also line-bred to him, with her third dam being his Group 1 AJC Oaks-winning daughter Dizelle, whose daughter Pinot won the Group 1 VRC Oaks. Dizelle's dam is the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes winner Danelagh, who is also the dam of Zabeel's star Hong Kong galloper Vengeance Of Rain.

Polo (Cool Aza Beel): By Savabeel's Group 1-winning son Cool Aza Beel, who stands at Newhaven Stud and bred and races this filly, Polo is another descendant of Pretty Polly and a granddaughter of Blue Diamond Stakes winner True Jewels.