Binte Aziza MH

Binte Aziza MH

It is hard to believe that almost forty years ago, RDM Maar Hala began her breeding career and through her progeny, directly impacted the direction and focus of the Rancho Bulakenyo breeding program. Maar Hala’s great-granddaughter, Binte Aziza MH, over her lifetime, would exert a similar impact, ushering a new generation of horses at Rancho Bulakenyo. An elegant and exquisite grey mare, Binte Aziza MH was sired by Richter MH, a son of El Halimaar (*Ansata Ibn Halima x RDM Maar Hala) and out of the *Farazdac daughter, Fasarra (*Farazdac x *Masarra). As the “earthquake” in Richter’s name implies, a more auspicious beginning could not have been made to herald the arrival of a mare who, through her progeny and especially, her sons, would significantly influence an already established and proven breeding program, whose world-wide fame rested upon the almost magical cross of the much-loved Babson Egyptian mare, Maar-Ree, with *Ansata Ibn Halima. Binte Aziza’s sire, Richter MH, a United States and Canada Top Ten Futurity Colt, previously owned by Count Federico Zichy-Thyssen of Haras El Atalaya in Argentina and now owned by Sheikh Khaled Ahmed Bagedo of Al Khaled Farm in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, remains a very special horse for Jody Cruz, as he is the first horse that Jody bred, shortly after taking the breeding program over from his father, Dr. Felino Cruz. 

On the maternal side of her pedigree, Binte Aziza MH, affectionately called “JoJo”, was out of a beautiful Abenhetep (*Ibn Hafiza x Omnia) daughter named BintAzizaPrincess, whom Jody had unexpectedly found while visiting Azali Arabians, owned by Bill and Georgene Raisner in Temecula, California.

BintAzizaPrincess (Abenhetep x Aziza Princess)

Jody still remembers the moment when he first saw BintAzizaPrincess, "I was visiting an Egyptian breeder friend in Temecula.  She offered to take me to another Egyptian breeder, a small family-owned and run program based on their first SE mare, Aziza Princess." Jody remembers spotting a most spectacular grey filly, "I literally looked across the row of corrals and saw a very special grey filly and asked, who is THAT?"  In that fraction of a moment, time seemed to come to a stop, as he focused all of his attention on an outrageous little filly, still at her dam's side. Jody immediately recognized that this filly may be just the horse he had been looking for, that is, a transitional horse who had the genetic potential to build upon the foundation already established at Rancho Bulakenyo, while transitioning the program  forward, to the next chapter. Despite his best efforts to convince the Raisners to sell her, they did not want to sell and Jody, unfazed by their response, was determined that one day, he would own “Sara”, her barn name inspired by Sara “Sally” Stokke, who along with her husband owned Abenhetep. Jody never wavered in his desire to purchase the filly and a few years later, was able to lease and ultimately purchase, BintAzizaPrincess and incorporate her in his program. Binte Aziza MH, her second foal and a very pretty grey filly, was born at the end of April 1998, captivating her breeder with an abundance of charm, just like her mother did, when Jody saw her for the first time. What is really interesting about the pedigree for Binte Aziza MH, is the presence of not only TheEgyptianPrince but also, RDM Maar Hala, who was known as a producer of influential stallions, having produced horses who went on to be equally significant for Rancho Bulakenyo and for other breeders too, like El Halimaar, Halim El Mansour, ET Crown Prince, Prince Ibn Shaikh, Maar Ibn Ali, Maar Ibn Amaal and Haliluyah MH. I don’t know of many horses who combine genetically a dam of stallions with a broodmare sire, to the degree that TheEgyptianPrince and RDM Maar Hala have been in the breed and for me, it better explains the consistency for which Binte Aziza MH has produced breeding horse quality within the Rancho Bulakenyo program.

In looking at Binte Aziza MH, while separated by many, many years from Ibn Rabdan, one does witness his influence, that is, close-coupled horses, framed by strong and smooth toplines and harmonious bodies influenced by circular lines. Ibn Rabdan remains one of the more important stallions in Egypt of his day, an important influence on present-day horses. Binte Aziza MH carries at least twenty-eight lines to Ibn Rabdan, eleven of the crosses through her sire, Richter MH and seventeen lines through her dam, BintAzizaPrincess, the mare that captivated Jody Cruz, back in 1991, when he visited Azali Arabians. 

Kaliph MH

Fast-forward ten years, when the first of her amazing sons started to arrive. Binte Aziza MH, a Kuhaylan strain mare, crossed beautifully with the Kuhaylan strain Imperial Al Kamar, producing a trio of uniquely pure-in-the-strain Kuhaylan stallions: Kaliph MH, now owned by Jaleen Hacklander of Hadaya Arabian Stud and proving to be a pivotal sire within her breeding program, 

Bashar Al Kamar MH

Bashar Al Kamar MH who has matured into a vital breeding stallion and replacement for his sire, Imperial Al Kamar and Nour Al Kamar MH,

Nour Al Kamar MH

who sired a beautiful filly named Amira Kahila MH (a double BintAzizaPrincess-bred mare, as she is out of Bint Romanaa MH) purchased by Jamie Zissis for her Rosehaven Ranch LLP. In a country which is dominated by Dahman and Saqlawi strain stallions, choosing to breed within the Kuhaylan strain is unique and not a choice that is commonly practiced by other straight Egyptian breeders. Jody Cruz made a bold choice in breeding within the Kuhaylan strain of horses, to produce individuals who like their sire and dam, would also continue to influence not only within the confines of the Rancho Bulakenyo program, but all over the world. 

Princess Aziza MH

When Binte Aziza MH was bred to *Lebinon Al Shaqab she produced three full sisters: Princess Aziza MH, who was sold to Al Shaqab in Qatar, Amaya Princess RAF and Johara Princess RAF, both of whom are owned by Jamie Zissis of Rosehaven Ranch LLP, to incorporate in her program, which focuses on the bloodline of the mare, 9 Tamria.  Their full brother, Aziz Ibn Lebinon MH, was retained by Rancho Bulakenyo, for use as a future breeding stallion.  Binte Aziza MH was also bred to *Hadban Al Shaqab producing the colt, Aziz Ibn Hadban MH, who is also retained by Ranch Bulakenyo as a future breeding prospect.  How important is Binte Aziza MH to Rancho Bulakenyo? Of the seven stallions that up until recently, filled the breeding stallion roster at Rancho Bulakenyo, six of those horses trace back to BintAzizaPrincess through her daughter, Binte Aziza MH. The seventh stallion was the late Imperial Al Kamar, who exerted an historic impact, all over the world. Of the mares that make up the breeding herd at Rancho Bulakenyo, a quarter of the mares carry the blood of BintAzizaPrincess and the ones that don’t, will be bred to one of Binte Aziza’s sons. Because the consistency of her sons are so outrageously excellent, one can easily forget that Binte Aziza also produced a daughter in 2013 named Bint Binte Aziza MH, a full sister to Kaliph, Bashar and Nour, as she was also sired by Imperial Al Kamar. It will be exciting to watch from the sidelines as she begins her breeding career. 

As stated at the beginning of this article, RDM Maar Hala defined her influential impact through the legacy that her sons created, as breeding stallions not only within the Rancho Bulakenyo program but all over the world. It is because of the Maar Hala sons that the breeding program of Rancho Bulakenyo is globally recognized for strong female lines which become influential through the siring strength of sons and Binte Aziza MH was no exception, she was proof of it. The memory of this prolific mare remains vibrant and relevant with the birth of every foal sired by Bashar, Kaliph and Nour and insures the survival of a most celebrated and revered family of horses.