Rachel Carpenter had a strong liking for grays, and according to racetrack legend handed trainer Jimmy Croll a modest budget for the 1967 Keeneland July yearling sale with orders to buy her a dapple-gray colt. Croll later denied to his dying day that Carpenter had given him quite so specific a shopping list, but he did come out of the sale with a handsome if small gray colt for US$14,000. Under the name of Al Hattab, the colt proved a great bargain, earning $452,913 on the track and becoming a good sire best remembered as the broodmare sire of 1991 American Horse of the Year Black Tie Affair and 1994 American Horse of the Year Holy Bull.
Race record
45 starts, 16 wins, 5 seconds, 2 thirds, US$452,913
1968:
1969:
1970:
1971:
Assessments
Rated at 115 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1968, 9 pounds below champion Top Knight.
Rated at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1969, tied for third overall but 10 pounds below co-highweights Arts and Letters (the official divisional champion and Horse of the Year) and Majestic Prince.
Rated at 120 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1971, 12 pounds below Horse of the Year and divisional champion Ack Ack.
As an individual
An attractive, light-framed gray with a good shoulder, strong quarters and a straight hind leg, Al Hattab strongly resembled his paternal grandsire Mahmoud but was a little shorter-legged and more compact. He turned out on his right forefoot but proved sound and durable nonetheless, although his 2-year-old campaign was somewhat hampered by a bruised foot and tender feet were an issue throughout his career. He could be temperamental and moody and was playful and rambunctious enough as a 2-year-old that Croll considered gelding him.
As a stallion
The Jockey Club credits Al Hattab with siring 258 winners (69.7%) and 45 stakes winners (12.2%) from 370 named foals.
Sire rankings
Per Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, Churchill, Reichard, and Rogers):
Per Thoroughbred Times (previously Thoroughbred Record):
Notable progeny
Ali Oop (USA), Roan Star (USA), Silver Supreme (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
Azzaam (USA), Black Tie Affair (IRE), Great Palm (USA), Holy Bull (USA), Sea Cadet (USA), Sumptious (USA), Taboo (ARG), Twafeaj (USA)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Al Hattab was bred by Arch L. Graham. He was owned by Rachel Carpenter, who purchased him for US$14,000 from the 1967 Keeneland July yearling sale, and raced him in the colors of her Pelican Stable. He was trained by Warren “Jimmy” Croll. Al Hattab entered stud in 1972 in Kentucky at Domino Stud and remained there until his death in 1983.
Pedigree notes
Al Hattab is inbred 4x4 to 1923 English champion 2-year-old filly Mumtaz Mahal and 4x5 to English champion sire Blandford and 1918 English Triple Crown winner Gainsborough. He is a full brother to Wonderful Gal, dam of multiple stakes winners Hattab Voladora (by Dewan) and Ridge Heights (by Riva Ridge), second dam of Grade 2 winner Abigailthewife and third dam of Grade 3 winner Krieger. Another full sister to Al Hattab, Waterbuck, is the dam of 1993 Washington, D.C., International Mile Stakes (USA-G1) winner Buckhar (by Dahar) and Grade 3-placed stakes winner Amorphous (by Sir Wiggle). Al Hattab is also a half brother to multiple stakes winner Judge Kilday (by Traffic Judge).
A winning daughter of the brilliantly fast Abernant, Al Hattab's dam Abyssinia II is out of Serengeti, by 1942 Two Thousand Guineas winner Big Game. The next-dam in the tail-female line, Mercy (by the speedy Fair Trial, England's champion sire in 1950) was a quite useful juvenile and was produced from Pip Emma (by 1925 St. Leger Stakes winner Solario), also a useful runner but one with more stamina and less precocity.
Fun facts
Last updated: February 19, 2024
Race record
45 starts, 16 wins, 5 seconds, 2 thirds, US$452,913
1968:
- Won Hawthorne Juvenile Stakes (USA, 8.5FD, Hawthorne)
- Won To Market Stakes (USA, 6.5FD, Hawthorne)
- 3rd Sapling Stakes (USA, 6FD, Monmouth)
1969:
- Won Monmouth Invitational Handicap (USA, 9FD, Monmouth)
- Won Jersey Derby (USA, 9FD, Garden State)
- Won Patriot Stakes (USA, 8.5FD, Liberty Bell; new track record 1:41-1/5)
- Won Lamplighter Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Monmouth)
- Won Hutcheson Stakes (USA, 7FD, Gulfstream Park)
- Won Fountain of Youth Stakes (USA, 8.5FD, Gulfstream Park)
- 2nd Wood Memorial Stakes (USA, 9FD, Aqueduct)
- 2nd Bahamas Stakes (USA, 7FD, Hialeah)
- 3rd Florida Derby (USA, 9FD, Gulfstream Park)
- 3rd Everglades Stakes (USA, 9FD, Hialeah)
- 3rd Long Branch Stakes (USA, 8FD, Monmouth)
1970:
- 3rd Gulfstream Park Handicap (USA, 10FD, Gulfstream Park)
1971:
- Won Tropical Park Handicap (USA, 9FD, Tropical Park)
- Won Orange Bowl Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Tropical Park)
Assessments
Rated at 115 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1968, 9 pounds below champion Top Knight.
Rated at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1969, tied for third overall but 10 pounds below co-highweights Arts and Letters (the official divisional champion and Horse of the Year) and Majestic Prince.
Rated at 120 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1971, 12 pounds below Horse of the Year and divisional champion Ack Ack.
As an individual
An attractive, light-framed gray with a good shoulder, strong quarters and a straight hind leg, Al Hattab strongly resembled his paternal grandsire Mahmoud but was a little shorter-legged and more compact. He turned out on his right forefoot but proved sound and durable nonetheless, although his 2-year-old campaign was somewhat hampered by a bruised foot and tender feet were an issue throughout his career. He could be temperamental and moody and was playful and rambunctious enough as a 2-year-old that Croll considered gelding him.
As a stallion
The Jockey Club credits Al Hattab with siring 258 winners (69.7%) and 45 stakes winners (12.2%) from 370 named foals.
Sire rankings
Per Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, Churchill, Reichard, and Rogers):
- 9th on the American general sire list in 1982.
- 2nd on the American broodmare sire list in 1991.
Per Thoroughbred Times (previously Thoroughbred Record):
- 9th on the American general sire list in 1982.
- 2nd on the American broodmare sire list in 1991.
Notable progeny
Ali Oop (USA), Roan Star (USA), Silver Supreme (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
Azzaam (USA), Black Tie Affair (IRE), Great Palm (USA), Holy Bull (USA), Sea Cadet (USA), Sumptious (USA), Taboo (ARG), Twafeaj (USA)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Al Hattab was bred by Arch L. Graham. He was owned by Rachel Carpenter, who purchased him for US$14,000 from the 1967 Keeneland July yearling sale, and raced him in the colors of her Pelican Stable. He was trained by Warren “Jimmy” Croll. Al Hattab entered stud in 1972 in Kentucky at Domino Stud and remained there until his death in 1983.
Pedigree notes
Al Hattab is inbred 4x4 to 1923 English champion 2-year-old filly Mumtaz Mahal and 4x5 to English champion sire Blandford and 1918 English Triple Crown winner Gainsborough. He is a full brother to Wonderful Gal, dam of multiple stakes winners Hattab Voladora (by Dewan) and Ridge Heights (by Riva Ridge), second dam of Grade 2 winner Abigailthewife and third dam of Grade 3 winner Krieger. Another full sister to Al Hattab, Waterbuck, is the dam of 1993 Washington, D.C., International Mile Stakes (USA-G1) winner Buckhar (by Dahar) and Grade 3-placed stakes winner Amorphous (by Sir Wiggle). Al Hattab is also a half brother to multiple stakes winner Judge Kilday (by Traffic Judge).
A winning daughter of the brilliantly fast Abernant, Al Hattab's dam Abyssinia II is out of Serengeti, by 1942 Two Thousand Guineas winner Big Game. The next-dam in the tail-female line, Mercy (by the speedy Fair Trial, England's champion sire in 1950) was a quite useful juvenile and was produced from Pip Emma (by 1925 St. Leger Stakes winner Solario), also a useful runner but one with more stamina and less precocity.
Fun facts
- Muhammad Abu 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad at-Tarabulsi al-Hattab al-Ru'yana, generally known to history as al-Hattab, was an important 16th-century scholar of the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence. As "Al Hattab" means "the woodchopper" in Arabic, it also alludes to the horse's sire, The Axe II.
- Although he was registered as a roan, Al Hattab was genetically a gray and was homozygous for the dominant gene that causes graying; as a result, all of his offspring were grays (though some were registered as roans).
Last updated: February 19, 2024