QUEEN FOR A DAY

Watch Rebel Queen winning the Nkosazana Stakes (Listed)
(Image : JC Photos - Footage : Tellytrack)

“Who said horse breeding was not a profitable pursuit?”

The chat lines have been ringing of late with conjecture about the first two-year-olds of the Equus Champion Sprinter, Rebel King. Most times you see a juvenile Feature field, there’s a Rebel King among them, and while he has yet to register a Stakes winner, he’s already had several earn their Black-type brackets. A precocious Group-winning two-year-old himself, the R210,000 Summerhill Sales graduate took a while to earn his first victory at the highest level, principally because he had the misfortune to be born in the era of the exceptional likes of National Colour, Mythical Flight and War Artist, all world-class performers in their own right. Although they knew the’d been in a scrap alright, most times it was their backsides he knew best!

His dam Cousin Linda, a one-time winning daughter of champion sire Badger Land, started just twice, and after an auspicious five length romp on her second visit to the racecourse, her career was curtailed by a recurrent hock injury. Whatever she lacked in racing opportunities however, she has more than made up for at stud, and on Tuesday her worth as a producer was displayed in technicolour at the Vaal. In the featured Riverside Handicap, the eight-time winning Uncle Tommy became a Black-type performer when staying on for third in the Listed event, while a half hour later, his sister Rebel Queen demolished a quality field in the Nkosazana Stakes (Listed) by a growing five lengths, racking up her sixth victory for Corne Spies, Fito Englezakis and Rob Macnab.

While it took a very reasonable R280,000 to acquire Rebel Queen herself, her mother has the distinction of having produced a succession of commercial youngsters at the sales, starting with Uncle Tommy who was South Africa’s most expensive yearling of his year when he fell to the bid of Mike Bass and the late Graham Beck at R2.4million. Always on the lookout for a bargain, Uncle Tommy was snapped up as a one-time winner by Hassan Adams for a modest R160,000 at the Graham Beck dispersal, and has since registered a further 7 victories. You shouldn’t be surprised at the enterprise of Mr Adams: the former Chairman of Grand West Casino has twice negotiated the sale of the Cape Town Waterfront (yes, “the” Waterfront), and recently announced his launch of the South African franchise of Burger King, which makes his exploits with Uncle Tommy a mere bagatelle.

For what it’s worth, Cousin Linda’s commercial record looks like this.

Born	Name	Sire	Record	Sold
2002	PRIME DIRECTIVE	Muhtafal	5 time winner	R475,000
2003	REBEL KING	National Emblem	8 wins / Gr1 winner	R210,000
2004	NTABANKULU	Muhtafal	2 time winner	Not Sold
2005	RELATIVE VALUE	Jallad	unraced	R120,000
2007	UNCLE TOMMY	Kahal	8 wins / Listed placed	R2,400,000
2009	REBEL QUEEN	Kahal	6 time stakes winner	R280,000
2010	COUSIN ANNIE	Kahal	Unraced	R320,000

Who said horse breeding was not a profitable pursuit? At the end of the day, Summerhill started out with a half-interest in a single mare, and horses alone have spawned everything you see around us today, including its award-winning hospitality establishment, Hartford House, and Vuma Horsefeeds.

Enquiries :
Linda Norval +27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email linda@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

SPOTTED IN MELBOURNE

(Photos : Bruno Cannatelli/Aushorse)

INGLIS MELBOURNE PREMIER YEARLING SALE
Oaklands Junction
3-6 March 2013

www.inglis.com.au

WHAT A WINTER RECLAIMS CAPE FLYING CHAMPIONSHIP CROWN

Click above to watch What A Winter winning the Cape Flying Championship (Grade 1)
(Image : Gold Circle - Footage Tellytrack)

BETTING WORLD CAPE FLYING CHAMPIONSHIP (Grade 1)
Kenilworth, Turf, 1000m
26 January 2013

Mike Moon
Tab NewsWhat A Winter melted away any thoughts that he might not be South Africa’s best sprinter with a commanding performance in the Grade 1 R600,000 Betting World Cape Flying Championship over 1000m at Kenilworth on Saturday.

The minimum dash was thought in some quarters to be a tad too short for the five-year-old entire these days but, with favourable weight-for age conditions, a brisk headwind and a smart pace, he showed that he is the supreme speedster.

The only horse in Saturday’s contest that looked remotely in the class of What A Winter was three-year-old filly Via Africa from Duncan Howells’ Durban yard. The daughter of Var took the lead shortly after the start and for a while looked like she might burgle it, but eventually succumbed by the best part of a length.

Third-placed Cap Alright, always a game performer, never looked threatening and was several lengths back at the line. The impressive-looking Chave De Oura finished fourth and might need a lot more ground at this stage of his career.

What A Winter jumped on terms and matched strides with some of his eager young rivals in the first half of the race. However, once jockey Bernard Fayd’Herbe got to work on him inside the final 400m there was no doubting the eventual outcome.

Before the race, What A Winter’s trainer Mike Bass said that his colt was in the peak of condition, having come out of the 1600m L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate - false start, challenging trip and all - in very good nick.

And he justified his conditioner’s bullishness with a consummate performance.

With many of the country’s other top sprinters of recent years retired or exported - such as Val De Ra and Shea Shea - What A Winter would seem to have a clutch of upcoming weight-for-age sprinting titles at his mercy and is likely to be aimed at big prizes in the KwaZulu-Natal winter season.

The young filly Via Africa is clearly a talent of note and will win some big races.

What A Winter, a five-year-old son of Western Winter out of the Ahonoora mare Waseela, was bred by Daytona Stud. He is owned by Mike Bass, Bryn Ressell, Marsh Shirtliff and GN Shirtliff.

BETTING WORLD CAPE FLYING CHAMPIONSHIP (Grade 1)
Final Result

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	WHAT A WINTER	60.0	120	9	B Fayd’Herbe	Mike Bass
2	0.75	VIA AFRICA	54.0	100	4	A Forbes	Duncan Howells
3	5.00	CAP ALRIGHT	60.0	110	6	K Teetan	Justin Snaith
4	6.00	CHAVE DE OURA	56.5	103	7	S Cormack	Dennis Drier
5	7.25	TORRA BAY (AUS)	57.5	96	1	M Byleveld	Dennis Drier
6	7.30	CAPE ROYAL	56.5	106	5	K Neisius	Dean Kannemeyer
7	8.55	MAGICO	60.0	107	3	G Schlechter	Eric Sands
8	9.80	TETELESTAI	60.0	106	8	* K der Melo	Garth Puller
9	10.30	JINZO	60.0	106	2	C Puller	Garth Puller

Extract from Tab News

WHAT A WINTER L'ORMARINS QUEEN'S PLATE BOUND

What A Winter (SAF) - Diadem Stakes (WFA) (Grade 2)
(Photos : Gold Circle)

L’ORMARINS QUEEN’S PLATE (Grade 1)
Kenilworth, Turf, 1600m
12 January 2012

Michael ClowerMike Bass is determined to take on Horse of the Year Variety Club in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate on Saturday week after What A Winter blitzed the opposition in the Diadem Stakes for the second successive year at Kenilworth on Saturday.

“Now he is back to his brilliant best” said Bass, referring to his last few starts where he had been affected by an infection which he took a long time to recover from. “He is also still a colt so he is challenging, and at times a frustrating horse to train especially him as I know how good he is and what he is capable of achieving. I have trained a few good sprinters in my time; Sweet Chestnut and TobeorNottobe come to mind, and while both were champions I think he is the best I have trained, he is special and when he is on song I don’t suspect there would be too many sprinters in the world that would keep up with him. I have eyed out the Queen’s Plate for some time now and always thought to myself if I could get him to his very best, his talent would see him through as a miler at the highest level. He settles well in his running and he is bred to go a mile so we will drop him in and be running at them at the finish. It’s certainly worth a crack.”

Bass was thinking of having a crack at last year’s Queen’s Plate too but the horse was drawn wide and he decided not to risk leaving the Betting World Flying Championship behind. There is again a fortnight between the two Grade 1’s. Bass said: “I don’t care if there was only five days. He smashed his field on Saturday, making good horses look ordinary, and he will again smash the opposition in the Cape Flying. There is no reason why he shouldn’t get the mile of the Queen’s Plate. I just need things to go his way. When he ran in the Cape Guineas he was drawn wide and raced wide, and it turned into a disaster. He tried again in the Gold Challenge at Clairwood in June but nothing happened for him.”

But it certainly did happen for him on Saturday when the 9-20 shot swept past the pace-setting Cap Alright nearing the 200m mark and came home nearly three lengths clear without being shown the whip in a time only a fifth of a second outside the course record. Stable companion Castlethorpe (Aus) came from the clouds to take second and is also Queen’s Plate-bound.

Bernard Fayd’Herbe said: “What A Winter is back to his best. I bounced him out and I was quite prepared to go on if I had to. This just shows what he can do when he is at his peak.”

This win took What A Winter’s career record to 11 wins and 5 places from 20 starts with earnings exeeding the R2million mark.

Owners Marsh Shirtliff, Bryn Ressell, Guy Shirtliff and Mike Bass will be sending What A Winter to stud at the end of the season and this impressive performance will certainly have added to his breeder appeal.

For more information, please visit :

lqp.co.za

WHAT A WINTER : WHAT A WINNER

Click above to watch What A Winter winning the Mercury Sprint (Gr1)
(Photo : Gold Circle - Footage : Racing International)

Mercury Sprint (Grade 1)
Clairwood, Turf, 1200m
14 July 2012

Mick Goss
Summerhill Stud CEOI sometimes wonder whether racehorses don’t exist to remind us of our fallibility. The enigmatic What A Winter is undoubtedly one of the most talented racehorses in the land; for all his marvellous attributes, on his day, I’d love to see him take on Black Caviar at Royal Ascot or at Royal Randwick, you name it. When he’s on song, he literally purrs, and on Saturday he was back to his best in the Mercury Sprint (Gr.1), where he gave the dual Group One ace, Delago Deluxe, a galloping lesson.

Granted, unlike Black Caviar, our man is a bit quirky. When he’s at home he verges on the unbeatable, but he’s not big on away games. That much he’s told us on two visits to Scottsville, and unlike the Randlords, he’s not mad about Jo’burg either. You can send Black Caviar anywhere, and she’ll produce the “after-burners”, but this fellow likes it his way. If you didn’t know it, you might have said that Clairwood Park was away from home too, but then you’d be forgetting that this is his winter home, the place from whence Mike Bass sent forth Pocket Power to his Vodacom Durban July victory among many others, so What A Winter is almost as at “home” at Clairwood as he is in Cape Town.

This is no ordinary horse though; he’s a man-mountain as a specimen, a V8 in his backside, great depth of girth, and a powerful sloping shoulder. To cap it, he has a grand head, broad and masculine with a big, genuine eye. And when you see him turn it on, you quickly forgive the odd flop; here is the perfect running machine, an easy, elastic action which rakes the ground barely an inch above the surface.

I know Mike Bass thinks he can get a mile, and perhaps he does, but what’s the point? At his best trip and at his best, he’s virtually unassailable. Whether he’ll get the opportunity to vindicate our views of his class with a trip to Ascot remains to be seen. Knowing Marsh Shirtliff though, and the competitor he is, I think this fellow’s got wings.