Yesterday the Michałów State Stud lost one of its greatest stars and one of the most beautiful mares in the world – the 18 years old multichampion El Dorada (Sanadik El Shaklan – Emigrantka/Eukaliptus). She won, among others, the titles of Res. World Senior Champion Mare (2004) and US National Champion Mare (2006). As a two year old (2000) she won Białka, Janów, the Swedish Blommeröd show and finally she was named European Junior Champion Mare. In 2002 she won Janów again, this time in the senior mares category, and she was chosen Senior Champion Mare at the All Nations Cup and then European Res. Senior Champion Mare. She got the title of European Senior Champion Mare in 2004. In 2012 she was honored with Silver in Aachen, Silver in Moorsele and Bronze in Paris. The year 2015 brought her the title of the Best Dam of the Show in Menton.
As the Michałów Stud’s web page informs, she passed away after a long illness. She was the favorite mare of Michałów’s many years’ trainer Mariusz Liśkiewicz who told us once that she was “the horse of his life”.
El Dorada was on lease twice – in Manny Vierra’s Valley Oak Arabians (US) and in Athbah Stud (Saudi Arabia). She faught on the show rings under the banner of the leaseholders and she was awarded, among others, with silver medal in Scottsdale (2006) and with another silver in Riyadh (PSAIAHF 2013).
El Dorada represented the Milordka dam line – one of the most valuables in Polish breeding – and she was, together with the Janów’s Andaluzja (out of Antwerpia/Eternit), the dam of Alert, the best Polish daughter of Sanadik El Shaklan. El Dorada had in total 13 foals. The last two of them (colt and filly) were born in Athbah Stud in 2014. Four of her get were born in the States. In Poland she left El Medina (by Gazal Al Shaqab) who is the dam of seven offspring herself. The most famous of the El Dorada’s descendants is El Palacio VO (by Al Lahab), bred by Valley Oak Arabians, owned by Prince Khaled bin Sultan Al Saud (Al Khalediah Stables, Saudi Arabia). His daughter, Kuwaiti owned Bint Hazy Al Khalediah (out of Hazy Al Khalediah/F Shamal), has been recently chosen World Bronze Junior Champion Mare in Paris.
In her maternal stud, besides El Medina, El Dorada left three other daughters: El Dorra 2010 (by QR Marc), El Dorella 2012 (by Eden C) and El Denaba 2013 by Esparto (but she died in 2013). El Dorra gave El Azja 2015 (by Ekstern). In 2016 a filly by Medalion out of El Dorella and a filly by Ekstern out of El Dorra were born.
El Dorada, according to her name, was a true gold mine: “We earned 2 mln euro from selling her get”, said some time ago Jerzy Białobok, the former Michałów Stud’s director*.
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