Ibriz Uzume - a Pedigree Story

When my first Saluki Akasha (El Hamrah Jacinth) died in a car accident the Christmas before last, I was grief-stricken. I knew the only way to battle the emptiness was another Saluki, yet I also knew that it had to be a very special puppy to walk in such revered footsteps.

I carefully researched pedigrees until I came upon the perfect combination of sound, moderate, functional lines with a desert influence. This I found across the border in Sweden. Breeder Jan Thellberg of Kennel Ibriz had exactly what I was looking for in his U-litter and so, in due time, in April '98, I picked up my black and tan bitch Ibriz Uzume, a.k.a. Asheerah, a beautiful moderate little bitch with an unflappable temperament, my constant companion.

Asheerah has an exceptional pedigree that combines a fair number of modern, post '50s imports from various countries of origin. As in most of our Western pedigrees, Mrs.. Vera Watkins' Sabbah the Windswift is a major influence. Registered in England in 1951, Sabbah was bred by Amir Mohammed Ibn Saud and presented by H.M. King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud (of Saudi Arabia) to his London Ambassador, His Excellency Sheik Hafiz Wahaba, M.R.V.O., and later given to Mrs. Watkins (Windswift). Sabbah was mated twice to Windswift Yasmin, producing Windswift Soraya and Knightellington Windswift Thamar who appear in Asheera's pedigree in Windswift Shahana, Windswift Sharon, Windswift Ramses and Sovereign of Daxlore, among others.

When Mrs. Dorothy Lees (Rualla) lived in Damascus, Syria during the 1960s, she received a 16 month Saluki bitch bred by Sheik Abdul Razzak Al Razzouk from the Feljah-Ramadi area on the Euphrates in Iraq. Amira Razzaka (Khalef x Shamsi), a small red bitch 22 inches in height, had been trained at hunting and was very fast. Some months after her arrival, Amirah was joined by Caesar Rualla (Malak Rualla x Farida), a 4-months-old fawn male with a white blaze, bred by Emir Fauz al Sha'lan and born near Rutba from, as I understand it, Syrian lines. He grew to about 25 1/2 inches. Moving to Lebanon, Mrs. Lees ,mated the headstrong Caesar to the obedient Amirah in 1964. Two bitches resulted, later registered in England as Falha Rualla of Fenbourne and Bjonarrie Ferial.

Back in England, Mrs. Lees bred Falha to Knightellington Djahi in 1969. One of the resulting pups was Mrs. Lewis' Knightellington Rualla Zoulaira, who became a two-time winner of the Cleve Cup, winner of the Sharif Trophy, and was described as one of the best coursing bitches of all time. She was mated twice to Ch. Knightellington Ibrahim, producing Ch. Knightellington Melody, Knightellington Mahdi and Ch. Knightellington Portia, all of which live on in the Ibriz U-litter of today.

Falha's sister Ferial, with Ch. Knightellington Caspah, produced a litter in 1967. Bjonarrie Athene became the foundation bitch of Mr. Philip Browning's Rabia-kennel and was eventually bred to the Saudi import Taviton Rhumli Saggers. Owned by Baroness E. Beck, he was a small, muscular feathered fawn registered in 1970, pedigree unknown. The result of this pairing was Rabia Anaza Min Ramli, a 3/4 desert dog born in March 1971, who went on to win 2 CC's and Reserve Best Saluki Dog at Crufts in 1977.

Also in '77, Vincent and Carole Reidy (Al-Yaman) imported Ch. Knightellington Rogaiya (Ch. Knightellington Melody x Knightellington Lanka), an elegant tricolor bitch who made Saluki history becoming the top winning Saluki ever in New Zealand and top winning bitch in Australia, with 12 Best In Shows to her name. An enthusiastic hunter, she would only course live game, ignoring the lure. With the English import Ch. Knightellington Vinca of Al-Yaman, she had a single puppy, the successful bitch Ch. Al-Yaman Fairuuzi.

Vinca and his sister Vivat, imported by the Reidys in 1984 and linebred to Knightellington Rualla Zoulaira, were by Akeldama Midnight Silk of Farni (Knightellington Mahdi x Knightellington Ophelia) out of Knightellington Portia, another noted courser. Back in 1978, Vincent Reidy received word from Mrs. Vera Watkins of what she described as a "connoisseurs litter", a breeding between Rabia Anaza Min Ramli and Windswift Jibli, a granddaughter of the Kuwaitian descent Saluki Taufaan Sharqi. NZ and AUST Ch. Windswift Zahwa was a 24 inches tall cream bitch who became the first English import to receive the dual championship title. She was fast and eager for the lure. Mated to Vinca in 1985, Zahwa produced Ch. Al-Yaman Emiir, a dedicated courser. Pairing Emiir and Vivat, both red, resulted in two marvelous reds, the male Ihsaan and the female Ishahana, both champions.

Ch. Al-Yaman Fairuuzi, with 3 Best In Shows to her name, was then bred back to her uncle, Ihsaan, resulting in Ch. Al-Yaman Jamil, who, bred to the lovely Ishahana, produced Al-Yaman Malaki, Al-Yaman Hetz Midbar and Al-Yaman Malak al-Caravan. Of these Hetz lives with Gail Goodman (Midbar) in Arizona, Malak in Norway with Lotta Brun (Caravan), and Malaki with Karin and Per Nordahl (El-Cazzino) in Sweden. The Nordahls mated Malaki to their S Ch. Ibinores Cazzi, an excellent lure-courser of chiefly Windswift lines, and the great-granddaughter of Taufaan Sharqi.

Taufaan Sharqi, a grizzle male born August 8, 1963, was the son of the Kuwaitian Taufaan and another Saluki from Kuwait, Najma Min Sharq, the latter registered in April of 1964 by Mrs. D. L. Heard, pedigree unknown. Swedish records however name the bitch Turfa as dam to Najma, and cite her sire, as well as Taufaan's parents, as "bred by Sheik S. Al Nazir".

Reported to be "of the smaller type", Taufaan Sharqi sired a litter by Windswift Vashti in January 1968. From this litter Windswift Talib, bred to Windswift Shamal, produced Windswift Al Jabir. Jabir was imported to Sweden in 1972 by Mrs. Sigrid Norman (Ibinores). Born August 11, 1971, he was owned by Mrs. Ingrid Alm.

In the Spring of 1977, Mrs. Karin Hedberg (Kashmanis) used Jabir on her grizzle bitch, Ch. Wenarjas Washaya. One of the resulting 3 + 3 pus was the legendary lure courser S Ch. Kashmanis Kebir. Mated to the Nordahls' Ibinores Zuleika, he sired the equally successful S Ch. Ibinores Cazzie. As stated earlier, Cazzie with her precious Windswift/Knightellington/desert lines was paired with those of Al-Yaman Malaki, producing the red parti-color S Ch. El-Cazzino Cajar with the wonderful pedigree. Cajar is the sire of the Ibriz U-litter and my Asheera.

The dam of Asheera and her three siblings is the lovely black and tan S and DK Ch. Ibriz Raziza, who contributes to Asheera's pedigree with the wonderful temperament and a unique Turkish infusion through the line of her dam, the eternally playful grizzle Ibinores De-hri. De-hri's paternal line goes through Finnish Sahrai and Kirman lines to mainly Daxlore and Burydown via America. It's De'hri's dam, Ibinores Amika el Shahana, however, who carries the truly interesting lines. Amika was sired by Ibinores Safir el Sandawir, himself the son of S and N Ch. Ibinores Aj Aj Ali Hussein and the bitch Ibinores Lamardine el Salah Kebah (Granddaughter of the English import Tahawi Mansoor). Hussein's dam Windswift Khazza was a striking grizzle bitch imported to Sweden by Mrs. Sigrid Norman. Khazza's sire was the famous Ch. Bedouin Caliph, her mother Windswift Shahana, whose pedigree was heavily influenced by Sabbah the Windswift.

The dam of Amika was Ibinores Jhahna, sired by Ibinores Timsahl, son of the immensely influential Int. Ch. Asphodel Arabis. Jhahna's dam in turn is of real interest, as she was none other than Sindah Manik, another of Mrs. Sigrid Norman's wonderful imports. Manik, bred by Mr. John Boutflower, was imported to Sweden in 1972. She was the daughter of yet another great courser, Knightellington Esmail, out of the smooth bitch Sindah Karob. Karob's line died out in England in 2 generations and was thought by many to be extinct. Karob was of wonderful desert stock, her sire the legendary Kumasi Sharif, son of the Hendersons' Kumasi Rihan (Kattaf x Laaba) and Kamasi Dhiba, a smooth bitch out of smooth parents (Gassab x Risha). Rihan, a feathered parti-color, was given to Colonel Victor Henderson at about 18 months of age. He was bred by Sheik Shaker Sheik Kamendar in Southern Iraq and was said to have taken down 43 gazelle. Dhiba, in turn, was a red/fawn smooth bred on the Iraq/Iran border in 1955 by Sheik Chasib Miftin. She is said to have arrived at 8 weeks of age, having traveled some 180 miles to the Hendersons, escorted by 8 armed men! Both dogs were imported to England in '57.

Karob's dam was Sindah Chorus, imported to England from a Turkish village in Cyprus by Mr. John Boutflower in 1961, pedigree unknown. This rare line thought to have been lost forever makes a unique addition to a marvelous pedigree with a heavy desert influence.

I am very proud of my little Asheera with her lovely pedigree that contains such a multitude of fine coursing hounds. She is a treasure in every sense and one I hope to have with me for a long time to come.

Sources:
The Saluqi: Coursing Hound of the East, Gail Goodman
Svenska Salukiringens Jubileumsbok 1968-78, 1983, 1988 and 1993
Finnish Saluki publications
The Saluki: Book of British Champions, 1923-73

© Micaela Lehtonen
Previously published in the SPDBS Newsletter in 1999