UMFUTHO POWERS INTO CUP CONTENTION FOR ALEC LAIRD

Click above to watch Umfutho winning his maiden
(Photo : JC Photographics - Footage : Tellytrack)

UMFUTHO
2009 SUMMERHILL READY TO RUN GRADUATE

UMFUTHO (Malhub (USA) - Particular Passion by Rambo Dancer (CAN))
3 Year Chestnut Colt
Owners : JQ Lowe, T Kung and G van Lear
Trainer : Alec Laird
Jockey : Sherman Brown
Breeder : Summerhill Stud
Win Time : 68.08
Career Record : 1 Win, 2 Places, 4 Starts

Umfutho is a graduate from the Summerhill draft of the 2009 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale.

SYMBOL FINANCIAL SERVICES CC MAIDEN PLATE
Turffontein Standside Turf 1160m
For Three-Year-Olds
30 October 2010

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	UMFUTHO	58.0	80	6	S Brown	Alec Laird
2	3.75	CHIP SHOT	58.0	0	9	F Naude	Dianne Stenger
3	5.25	FANCY SOME FRENCH (AUS)	58.0	83	5	D Daniels	Glen Kotzen
4	10.75	MANONTHECATWALK	58.0	81	11	A Marcus	Charles Laird
5	11.00	METRO MAN	58.0	0	3	B Lerena	Dominic Zaki
6	13.00	REIGN VICTORIOUS	58.0	0	13	P Strydom	Sean Tarry
7	13.50	JAROLAIN	58.0	0	2	*J Jordaan	Weiho Marwing
8	15.00	PRINCE ALWAHTAN	58.0	70	4	*E Pheiffer (1.5)	Roy Magner
9	17.50	ZEZINHO ARTISTA (BRZ)	58.0	0	7	R Simons	Paul Matchett
10	18.00	IMPERIAL EMPIRE	58.0	0	8	J Sampson	David Rahilly
11	18.50	YARD LEADER	58.0	0	12	L Bester	Craig Mayhew
12	23.00	CHECKERBOARD	58.0	0	10	G Wrogemann	James Maree
13	24.00	NATIONAL NETWORK	58.0	0	1	S Khumalo	Barend Botes
		Late Scratchings
14	0.00	CLASSIC MORNING	58.0	0	8	G Lerena	Ormond Ferraris
15	0.00	SHEIKS PIE	58.0	67	5	L Nhlapo	Bradley Maroun
16	0.00	DON’T TELL JO	58.0	0	2	*N Juglall (2.5)	Brian Wiid

For more information please visit :
www.summerhill.co.za

A.P. ARROW : RIGHT ON TARGET

A.P. Arrow filly from a Rambo Dancer mare
(Photo : Leigh Willson) 

“THE MODERN THOROUGHBRED”

Observation of trends in the sporting world reveals an ever increasing inclination towards size, as in”bigger is better”. In racing parlance, this translates into the old adage that a good big “un” will always beat a good little “un”, though we know there are exceptions to this rule, for sure.

However, looking at the worlds of sport and conflict, it is so that the scales have tipped in favour of larger athletes. Revisit the composition of Danie Craven’s 1937 Springboks to New Zealand, and you’ll find that just a handful of them (including tighthead prop, “Boy” Louw) tipped the scales at over 100 kgs. Yet if you look at modern day Springbok teams, you find that there are only a handful below this mark, and that doesn’t always include the scrumhalf. In the world of conflict, its said that the “Tommy” soldiers that made up the 22nd Regiment of Foot at the Battle of Isandlwana in 1879, were no more than an average height of 5’4 , yet when England won the 2003 Rugby World Cup, their forwards were as big and bulky as any on show.

Translated into equine terms, a study of Australian, American and Japanese racing in particular reveals a similar trend. In the former two countries, you seldom see a stallion advertised at under 16,1 hands, while in Japan, they are tending towards 17 hands. While America has been a bastion of thoroughbred excellence for years now, the emergence of Australia and Japan as major forces might well have a correlation in the size of the athletes they’re producing.

Our own travels tell us that if there’s to be another increment in South Africa’s international competiveness in the racing world, it might well come from the supplementary benefits of achieving greater size through genetic enhancement.

We all know the Microsoft Playbook : when others log onto your tail lights, you veer off in a new direction, and all of Kahal, Solskjaer, Mullins Bay, Admire Main, Brave Tin Soldier and A.P. Arrow are part of a new plan. At 16.2 hands, A.P. Arrow is a powerful manifestation of the attributes of the modern thoroughbred, yet until you see his offspring on the ground, you slumber in darkness waiting for the day of the first arrivals to dawn.

That day has at last arrived, and when you’re home to some of the best blood of the Northern Dancer strain in the country, you’re always relieved when you think you’ve found the perfect foil. Above is what an A.P. Arrow filly from a Rambo Dancer mare looks like.

THE SOUL OF THE FARM

The Soul of the Farm
(Photo : Summerhill Stud) 

Here you sense the history of Great Ones…

Continuing the extracts from the Summerhill Sires Brochure for 2010/2011. Are you on the mailing list? If not then please let us have your details and we’ll gladly ensure you get a personal copy when it’s published on the 1st August.

“Step into the stud office, with its marble floors, trophy cabinets and Designers’ Guild furnishings and you think, this is the soul of it all. But that distinction belongs to the Stallion Barn.

Here you sense the history of the Great Ones, whose names adorn the honours boards. Here you make the acquaintances of Greig Muir, in his 25th year of service, and the Zumas, whose grandfather “did” Mowgli in the 50’s; their father groomed Sentinel. This place reeks of tradition and horsemanship, and decades of success. The only concession to modern times, is the TV tuned to Tellytrack.

In as old a ritual as the farm itself, all the people that make Summerhill tick, assemble at 6.45am at the stud office. Not long ago, when the farm’s most famous resident, Northern Guest, made his daily way to his paddock, the management gathered on the verandah to pay their respects. He’d paid for most of what you saw around you.

Towards the end, the old horse with his arthritic gait, would announce his presence with a reassuring neigh. He was not about to play the invalid. Like every great stallion, he didn’t look at you, but over and beyond, across the fields of dreams.

“Legend” is a devalued word in sport, yet here, standing before you, was the genuine article. You realise in an instant that this is a place where the Thoroughbred is not only a way of life; it is a reason for living, and a deep pool of sentiment.

Alongside the Stallion Barn is the cemetery, the Heroes’ Acre. You don’t get in here unless you’ve been worshipped by the cult. St Pauls, Mowgli, Magic Mirror, Cape Heath, Panjandrum, Sentinel, Sybil’s Nephew and Masham from a bygone era, and the modern giants Liloy, Home Guard, Northern Guest, Rambo Dancer. There’s not much room left, and you get the feeling that immortality is the only yardstick for induction. Looking at the present line-up though, you’d have to believe there are more than a few live candidates.”

For more information please visit :
www.summerhill.co.za

BELATED CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR DENNIS DRIER YARD

Dance At Daylight
(Photo : Gold Circle)

DANCE AT DAYLIGHT
CHRISTMAS HANDICAP (GR3) 2009

The Dennis Drier yard received a belated Christmas gift at Clairwood on Boxing Day when Dance At Daylight took victory in the Christmas Handicap (Grade 3) over 1600m.

Jumping from gate 15, jockey Alec Forbes positioned the son of Rambo Dancer a few lengths off the pace in sixth. Forced to race three-wide thoughout, and without cover for most of the trip, Forbes held off for as long as possible before asking Dance At Daylight for his best effort in the straight. The response came in abundance with the gelding quickening clear to win comfortably by two from Select The Star, Lion’s Blood and Dynamite Mike.

Assistant trainer Stuart Ferry was complimentary of the ride and acknowledged that Alec Forbes had built a good relationship with Dance At Daylight, knowing exactly what to do in the straight.

This victory takes Dance At Daylight’s race tally to 5 wins and 6 places from 17 starts and his earning to R424,880.

The five-year-old is one of 19 South African stakes winners sired by the Northern Dancer stallion Rambo Dancer, who commenced his stallion career in Britain before taking up stud duties here at Summerhill in 1996. Best known as the sire of Gr.1 hero Pick Six, Rambo Dancer died in 2005.

Dance At Daylight is the first foal of Norse Woman (Northern Guest), a winning half-sister to Warning Zone (Elliodor), the Equus champion juvenile filly of 2002, who subsequently became a stakes winner in the US. The mare’s last foal is a yearling filly by Kahal.

Grandam, War Women, who produced six winners from eight runners, is a half-sister to triple Gr.1 hero Record Edge (Sunny North) and to Gr.1 Gold Bowl victor Golden Peak (Peacetime). This is a branch of the Birch Brothers’ famed Drohsky family, from which descend the tough Cape Guineas hero Ocean City, Two Cities (Gr.2 Bull Brand International) and Tammany Hall (Gr.3 Republic Day Handicap).

Congratulations must go to Dance At Daylight’s breeder, Chris Saunders from Invermooi Stud, as well as to owners Miles Dally and Gary Harris. Credit must also be paid to War Woman’s breeders, retired High Court Judge Alan Magid and Benji Jonsson.

Our horses keep the flag flying high... and another Ready to Run Graduate shines

Confirming his status as one of the Eastern Cape’s most promising four year olds, Paris Perfect (by Muhtafal) out of Candle Princess, bred by our long-time friends Peter and Gail Fabricius, ran away with the laurels in the Merit Rated 75 Handicap over 2000m at Arlington on Friday. Recording his 10^th career win, Paris Perfect again disproved the view that progeny of Muhtafal are not suited to distances over 1900m. Biding his time near the front for most of the race, he got down to busines in the home straight, breezing past race leader Moscow Circus to go away and win by what would’ve been a larger margin had jockey Gerrit Schlechter not eased him down at the finish.

With most people’s attention focused on the main races at Clairwood on Saturday, the Gold Challenge and Tibouchina Stakes, the final race on the card, the 1600m KZN Chapter Challenge Final (Merit Rated), produced a storming performance. El Padrino, a  son of Summerhill super sire Muhtafal, and out of a Desert Team mare Dot Dot Dash, owned by Summerhill stalwart and long standing Muhtafal supporter, Steve Sturlese, showed the rest of the field a clean pair of heels. Hanging back near the middle of the field, El Padrino accelerated with about 300 metres to go, and effortlessly passed the ever game race leader, Day Of The Piper, to win going away by over four lengths. In the post-race interview, his trainer, an elated David Goss revealed that he’d thought so highly of his chances in this race, that he placed a huge bet on him to win. When asked to reveal the exact amount, David Goss was rather coy, joking that he didn’t want the taxman to get his hands on it!

Meanwhile, on Monday at Turffontein, another Ready To Run graduate from 2006, Lisa Anne, by the late Summerhill sire, Rambo Dancer, and out of Forest Edge, owned by old friends and great Summerhill supporters Bruce and Jo Gardner, put in an impressive showing to win her first race, the Maiden Plate for Fillies and Mares over 1200m. Cutting through the field with effortless ease, she hit the front with 200m to go and went away to win, giving long-time friend and trainer Gary Alexander the first of his two wins at the track.