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 who helped to create the instantly recognisable and universally admired ‘Mulawa style’ the global community readily recognises today.
The Mulawa story continues with Fame Maker R, one of the highest profile imports ever to stand as chief sire in Australia.
Of all the imported stallions afforded the honour of chief sire at Mulawa, none enjoyed more universal acclaim and interest than Fame Maker R. Already a United States and Canadian National Champion Futurity Colt when purchased by fellow Australian David Westbrook at a public auction during the annual Scottsdale Show, the overwhelming favourable reputation of the immensely popular Fame Maker was only magnified when he landed Down Under in the winter of 1996. So keen were the Farrells to make Fame Maker an integral part of the Mulawa future that, prior to his acquisition in Scottsdale, they reached an agreement to stand and promote the stallion for David should he become the successful buyer, committing to a 50% share prior to export and securing full ownership by February 1997. This key acquisition coincided perfectly with Fame Maker’s ultimate triumph as Australian National Senior Male Champion in a spectacularly unforgettable, crowd-pleasing performance that still elicits goosebumps in recollection.
Phenotypically, Fame Maker exemplified the breed ideal more so than any chief sire in Mulawa’s long history. His silhouette – superbly balanced and harmoniously proportioned, with an elegant upright forehand, a compact level topline and an undeniable aristocratic elegance – was remarkably reminiscent of his maternal grandsire El Shaklan (Shaker El Masri x Estopa by Tabal), the iconic sire of unparalleled global influence whose monumental influence in Australia had yet to be incorporated into the Mulawa breeding programme. Fame Maker’s exceptional conformational correctness, strong, smooth coupling and powerfully impulsive, brilliantly animated athleticism can be credited to his paternal grandsire Raffon (Gazon x Vadraff by Indraff), a United States National Champion Stallion and English Pleasure Horse responsible for so much genetic merit in the breed worldwide. Fame Maker’s uber-abundance of irresistibly compelling charisma and imposing, overwhelmingly extroverted self-confidence, along his reliably exuberant tail-carriage – carried at full mast in flag unfurled style whenever he was in motion, were the irrefutable gifts of his paternal grandsire Bey Shah (Bay el Bey x Star of Ofir by Bask), whose profound legacy has enriched the breed inestimably. Fame Maker’s final genetic connection of consequence was his maternal granddam Prometida (Zanjar x Batista by Sherif), a straight Spanish mare discovered in 1970 by Sigi Siller on her first trip abroad in search of quality bloodstock, who became one of the foundation mares at Om El Arab alongside the legendary Estopa (Tabal x Uyaima by Barquillo).
For almost two decades, Fame Maker was an incredibly reliable source of superlative show horses, both in hand and under saddle, as well as invaluable breeding horses, especially his prolific daughters. Two-time Australian National Reserve Champion Fames Harmony, his most look-alike daughter, proved an ideal cross with Klass (TS al Malik x Karmaa by Kaborr), producing several daughters of monumental importance in turn. The cross of Fame Maker daughters with Klass became a reliable nick for Mulawa in the 2010s, resulting in three-time Australian National Champion Klassical Fame MI (ex Forever Fame).
The nick with Magnum Forty Four (Magnum Psyche x WH Nashahna by Bey Shah) proved to be equally reliable and consequential, resulting in the likes of Australian National Champion Because and Aristocrat Dam Be Infatuated, full siblings out of Befame (Fame Maker R x Amurath Beguile by Ramses Fayek). In addition, there were athletes extraordinaire High Calibre and Rapid Fire, full siblings out of Fire Flame (Fame Maker R x M Angelique by Vision), multiple-Australian National Champions under saddle. Fire Flame was also the dam of the always inspiring Fire Alert (by TS al Malik), a perennial favourite as a show horse who proved to be popular sire throughout Australia.
Angel of Fame (Fame Maker R x Mulawa Angelica by Wanted KE) blessed the breed with Elite Aristocrat Dam Always an Angel (by SK Shakla Khan by Sanadik El Shaklan by Sun King Raindrop), the dam of international super star full siblings Always Valentine MI, Valentino’s Angel MI and Vangelis MI, all sired by DA Valentino (Versace x DA Love by Padrons Psyche).
Legendary show horses Flame Maker (ex Mulawa Kara Mia MI by GLF Apollo), Fames Presence (ex Presence by GLF Apollo), and Fames Phantom MI (ex Mustang’s Magnum by Magnum Forty Four), multiple Australian National, East Coast and National Stud Show Champions, have also contributed immensely to Fame Maker’s unrivalled legacy as a sire of enduring and profound consequence.
Prodigiously prepotent, Fame Maker stamped his get with his pleasing phenotype with reassuring consistency. Routinely tall and exceptionally complete, the Fame Maker progeny exemplified symmetry, structural integrity and elegance in perfect proportion, exuding type, charisma and self-assuredness in spades. Almost all were further blessed with his phenomenal movement, which never failed to manifest as excellence both in hand and under saddle across a wide variety of versatile equine disciplines. Whenever a long tail bone, perfectly shaped and proudly carried with just the slightest provocation, is spotted on a Mulawa Arabian, one can almost guarantee that Fame Maker is the source.
