Antonios

The chestnut stallion Antonios was born at Crabbet Park in 1895 and was the sixth son out of their mare Queen of Sheba. Queen of Sheba was born in the desert in 1975 and acquired by Lady Ann and Wilfrid Blunt for their Crabbet Park Stud in England in 1978. She was considered superior to the other Arabs they imported from the desert because Queen of Sheba was a mare of high quality and nobility. The bay mare was from Obeyah Sherrakiyah strain. Queen of Sheba, who was the last of the Blunt imports, died in 1901.
Antonios' sire was Mesaoud who was bred by Ali Pasha Sherif and born in 1887. The Blunts imported him to Crabbet Park 1891 after though negotiations with his breeder. This flashy bright chestnut stallion was used as both riding horse and sire at Crabbet Park producing more than 100 foals (which was a lot in these days). He was later sold to Russia in 1903 to Sergei Stroganov to extend his influence on the continental Europe. Unfortunately, he and all the Stroganov bred horses believed to be lost during the Russian revolution in 1917/1918.
Due to his parents, Antonios was full-brother to the bay stallion Astraled who is considered the most famous of son of Mesaoud and Queen of Sheba. Through Queen of Sheba, Antonios is the half-brother to Asfura by Azrek who continued the dam-line of Queen of Sheba.