Mulawa Arabian Stud is our premier sponsor for 2025, and we are honoured to share their history of their fifty-plus years breeding programme through TheArabianMagazine.Com.
In celebration of the incomparable contribution the Farrell family has made to the advancement of the Arabian breed over the course of half a century, we continue our journey back across the decades and discover the success of the modern Mulawa Arabian through the lens of each of the transformative chief sires helped to create the instantly recognisable and universally admired ‘Mulawa style’ the global community readily recognises today.
The Mulawa story continues with GLF Apollo, the catalyst for a new generation of sires who supercharged the monumental transformation of the programme in the 21st century.
The importation of the yearling colt GLF Apollo in 1991 ushered in the ‘new wave’ of sires for the Mulawa programme, bringing with him the very first connection to a sire of supreme global significance whose ascendancy was on a rapid rise: the North American Triple Crown sensation Padron. Bred in the Netherlands, Padron was a Russian/Crabbet blend masterpiece, sired by the Tersk-bred Patron (ex Podruga by Priboj), himself a son of the straight Egyptian breeding legend Aswan (Nazeer x Yosreia by Sheikh el Arab), and out of the British-bred Odessa (Bright Wings x Serinda by Seradin), whose predominantly Crabbet pedigree was intensely line-bred to the two most important foundation mares from the desert: Dajania or. Ar. 1876 and Rodania or. Ar. 1869. ‘Apollo’ was a direct paternal grandson of the living legend Padron through his Texas-bred son Diamond Padron, whose maternal line was enriched with the beneficial genetic influence of American Arabian sires extraordinaire Serafix (Raktha x Serafina by Indian Gold), Fadjur (Fadhelian x Bint Sahara by Farawi), Tsatyr (Tsali x Imamara by Imaraff) and Raseyn (Skowronek x Rayya by Rustem).
Bred in Michigan by Lori Humphrey and recommended to the Farrells by long-time friend and mentor Gene Reichardt, Apollo’s pedigree was a bountiful blend of several of the leading sires from the Great Lake State, including the legendary straight Egyptian Shaikh Al Badi (Morafic x Bint Maisa El Saghira by Nazeer), his well-conformed and elegant son Avatar al Sufi (ex Bint Buena Suerte by Buena Suerte), and the powerful Percussion (Perkal x Hillcrest Hanrifa by Handeyraff), the latter two both chief sires at the influential Avatar Arabians. This blend of predominantly Crabbet and foundation American bloodlines with some of the very best straight Egyptian descendants of Nazeer (Mansour x Bint Samiha by Kazmeen) was also enriched with an essential link to Poland through the Janów Podlaski-bred Perkal (Palas x Pierśnica by Negatiw), an exceptional athlete who was a direct tail-female great-grandson of the immortal Piewica (Priboj x Włodarka by Ofir), foundress of the unparalleled Polish ‘P’ family of international champions.
Phenotypically, Apollo was most reminiscent of his maternal grandsire Percussion, a National Reserve Champion Park Horse esteemed for his considerable substance, strength, masculine power and athletic inclination, and the superbly conformed, prototypically versatile Serafix (Raktha x Serafina by Indian Gold) via multiple crosses in his sire line, with an apparent dose of Padron’s aristocratic elegance and magnetic presence layered in for good measure. Renowned for siring bright chestnuts with flaxen manes and tails – the golden ‘surfer girls and boys’ of Mulawa of the 1990s – Apollo would leave his indelible mark on dozens of breeding programmes all across Australasia in the ensuing decades, with his daughters reliably found in the pedigrees of several of the most celebrated modern Mulawa Arabians who enjoy international acclaim.
The Apollo daughters of the 1990s became the most important broodmatrons in the breeding programme, crossing superbly with the next wave of sires to create the definitive Mulawa Arabian of the new millennium, now readily recognised and respected worldwide. The second of Mulawa’s record-obliterating fourteen Australian National Senior Female Champions was the magnificent Mulawa Behold (ex Amurath Beguile by Ramses Fayek), beloved as the most successful Apollo daughter in the show-ring. Two essential matrons representing the foundation dam line of Mulawa Chance (Ambition x Grojecca by Grojec) were invaluable daughters of GLF Apollo: Falzon Tomorrow’s Dream (ex Claim to Fame by Fame Maker R), the dam of six-time Australian National Champion halter and performance superstar Echos of Tomorrow (by Echos of Marwan); and the impeccably marked and aptly named Perfect Harmony (ex Mulawa Chance), an Aristocrat Dam of immeasurable worth through whom the most important branch of her family still thrives at Mulawa, and who just recently passed away at 32 years of age.
Four other Mulawa mare families are still flourishing thanks to invaluable daughters of GLF Apollo. Jiah Aspire (ex J Athena by Warranty) is the source of Australian National Champions Mulawa Aspiring (by Magnum Forty Four) and MI Aspiring Valentino (by DA Valentino), as well as the rising superstar Aspire MI (by Allegiance MI). The ultra-elegant Presence (ex Prevue by Vision) proved herself the most important matron in the foundation pure Polish dam family of Dzina, producing seven champion progeny including the invaluable daughters Parada (by Magnum Forty Four) and Forever Fame (by Fame Maker R), whose daughters in turn are cherished as some of the very best members of the current Mulawa broodmare band. The reigning ‘Queen of Mulawa’ at 30 years young is unquestionably the most treasured daughter of GLF Apollo – Mulawa Kara Mia MI (ex Karmaa by Kaborr) – who is still serving as an irreplaceable nanny for each new generation of yearling fillies at Alabama Stud. Honoured as the WAHO Trophy Recipient for Australia in 2019 for her immeasurable contribution as a broodmatron, Kara Mia MI is not only the key ancestress in the pedigree of numerous international champions and esteemed breeding horses worldwide, but also the source of the most prodigious and prolific branch of her venerated dam family at Mulawa.
A reliable source of versatile athleticism, intelligence and trainability, the Apollo progeny are still celebrated as some of the greatest performers in the breed. His sons Chancellor (ex Mulawa Chance), Murrahala Mikova (ex M Chantilly Lace by Warranty) and Proclaim (ex Presence) are three of the most accomplished Arabian geldings in-hand and under saddle, with Proclaim, most astoundingly, boasting ten Australian National Championships in nine separate divisions. The Apollo son Galaxy MI (ex Parkview Mairaya by TS al Malik) has been a banner carrier in the Olympic discipline of endurance, winning the 400km Shahzada Memorial Ride – the world’s longest and most demanding endurance competition – including the awards Best Conditioned and Best Managed athlete.
The fiercely independent, infinitely energetic Apollo was not only in residence at Mulawa longer than any of the other imported chief sires – a remarkable 29 years – he lived the longest, fullest life of any of the stallions ever to call Mulawa home, moving on to greener pastures at thirty extraordinary years of age in 2020. His enduring gifts to the breed continue to be substantial strength and capacity, correct conformation, admirable length and shape of neck, a powerful hindquarter and his trademark golden-blonde coat/hair colour combo. Unsurprisingly, given the number of celebrated athletes in his pedigree, the Apollo descendants continue to excel across a wide variety of equine sport, renowned for their remarkable work ethic, indefatigable enthusiasm and effortless versatility.
