A daughter's wedding day ought to be one of the proudest moments of a father's life, and for James Hanly, the Greek wedding of his daughter Rosanna last year was indeed such an occasion, even if it meant that he missed what may then have felt like the pinnacle of his achievements as a breeder.But sometimes the racing gods are a friendly bunch and, twelve months on, they convened to grant Hanly a second chance, much to the relief of Rosanna. Watching on as Ombudsman was led back in as the winner of the Prince of Wales's Stakes for the second year in a row, she asked, “Am I now forgiven for having my wedding during Royal Ascot?”Her question had already been answered by the mighty five-year-old stallion out on the track whose performance was, simply, breathtaking. Indeed, her father struggled to find words to sum up what he had just witnessed in person this time.“It's what dreams are made of,” said Hanly, whose Ballyhimkin Stud can be recognised as the source of arguably the best horse in the world right now. “I watched them saddling and the horse never turned a hair. I remember Mr John Gosden, after the race in Sandown, he said this horse is becoming a real pro. So he has temperament, performance.”The third piece of that heady triumvirate is of course physique and to top it all, Ombudsman is a magnificent beast to behold.“Yes, he is,” Hanly agreed. “We're very proud – for the people on the farm who do all the work, I'm so proud of them. He's a very exciting stallion.“I don't know what would have beaten him. You'd have to bring the Concorde back. He's magic.”At Ascot this time with his wife Charlotte and their children Rosanna and Jack, Hanly, enjoying the many hugs, kisses and thumps on the back from his friends around the winner's circle, added, “Last year was superb. This year, I have no words.”We may only be two days in to this year's Royal Ascot, but if there is a dominant theme emerging via the results on the track it is the increasingly prevalent influence of Dubawi.His sons or grandsons have taken charge in most of the best contests of the week so far, and none more so than Night Of Thunder. The reigning champion sire notched his third Group 1 winner in 48 hours with Ombudsman's devastating romp, following the first-day exploits of Ten Bob Tony and Bow Echo. In the Queen Anne Stakes, Night Of Thunder accounted for three of the first four home, with More Thunder finishing runner-up and Zeus Olympios taking fourth behind Opera Ballo, who is by another of Dubawi's sons in Ghaiyyath. The latter also provided the Kensington Palace Stakes winner Alobayyah.Later on Tuesday, the Ballylinch sires New Bay and Make Believe played their part as the sires of Kizlyar (Ascot Stakes) and Daiquiri Bay (Copper Horse Stakes) respectively. New Bay featured again on Wednesday through his G2 Queen's Vase-winning son Limestone, who was bred by Ballylinch and raced by them in partnership with Al Shaqab Racing and Valmont.Ballylinch Stud's managing director John O'Connor said, “We've been very lucky with those partnerships. We've had Place du Carrousel in partnership with Al Shaqab, and we've had several good horses in partnership with Valmont, so they've been lucky partners for us, and we're happy to do it. And Anthony [Ramsden] and Valmont have been good supporters. They're very professional, and they know what they're doing. They're easy partners to have.”He added of Limestone, who was the second consecutive Queen's Vase winner to have been raised at Ballylinch after Carmers (Wootton Bassett), he added, “We really liked him as a yearling. He was a very lovely, good-moving horse. We've been lucky keeping some of those very nice horses, because Bayside Boy was another son of New Bay we did the same thing with. This one is more progressive. We'll have to see how far he can come.”O'Connor admitted that, through New Bay, his exciting first-season son Bayside Boy, and Make Believe, the stud and its clients are fortunate to have access to variations of the Dubawi sire-line alongside Ballylinch's flagship stallion Lope De Vega.“He is a breed shaper,” he said of Dubawi. “And, you know, in some ways he's a breed shaper that not everybody expected, but he's done it himself. He deserves all the plaudits that he gets. His sons are doing really well. He's a stallion of the epoch, really, in some ways.”Ballylinch Stud also played its part in the early days of Juddmonte's exciting filly Blue Bolt (Blue Point), winner of the G2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes, who was consigned by the farm at the Arqana August Yearling Sale of 2023. In this instance the stud was acting on behalf of O'Connor's friend and colleague Brendan Hayes, who featured in these pages only yesterday as the breeder of Ten Bob Tony. Under their C-Squared Investments banner, the Hayes family bred Blue Bolt, a daughter of the Kifrush Stud-bred mare Mayhem, whose sire Whipper raced in the colours of former Kilfrush owner R C Strauss and stood his early years at stud at Ballylinch.While Ten Bob Tony represents the family of the influential Kilfrush matron Mill Princess (Mill Reef), Blue Bolt traces back to another, her fifth dam Truly Special (Caerleon), whose descendants include the Group 1 winners Cerulean Sky (Darshaan) and Moonstone (Dalakhani). 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