His offspring have dazzled the racing world and now champion stallion Zabeel has stunned the punters again - by siring a pure-white thoroughbred filly.
Breeder Sir Patrick Hogan said he was bamboozled by the new foal.
Zabeel is a bay and the dam, Carmina Burana, a chestnut.
"It is a
pure-bred thoroughbred and I don't think there would be too many foals born pure white, as white as driven snow. You just don't get that colour. In the 65 years I've seen foals being born, it's the first time I've sighted one."
He rang the Sydney-based owner, Rod Martin, and told him he had a white filly, except for a small chestnut spot between its ears.
"He was speechless. There was nothing on the end of the wire for a while," Sir Patrick said.
The foal, sired for a stud fee of $100,000, is a three-quarter sister to champion Might And Power, a Melbourne Cup, Cox Plate and Caulfield Cup winner who was twice named Australian Horse of the Year.
Since Zabeel was put to stud in 1991, he has sired 34 group one winners, with Jezabeel joining Might And Power among the Melbourne Cup winners.
Sir Patrick said: "I'm not sure I would have wanted a white foal. It will eventually have to deal with the rays of the sun on that very, very light skin. It will always need a paddock with a lot of shade."
NZ Thoroughbred Racing said there was only one other pure-white thoroughbred registered in New Zealand - a South Island mare called Legally White whose sire, I Conquer, was the son of Zabeel.
Sir Patrick has just one request - please, no naming competitions.
"If we did that 99.9 per cent of entries would say Snow White. And if it was a colt, it would be Casper the Ghost."
