NHLAVINI : THE PASSING OF A LEGEND

Nhlavini
(Photo : Summerhill Stud Archives)

NHLAVINI (SAF)
(National Emblem (SAF) - Valley Mist (SAF)

The frenetics surrounding the Cape Premier Yearling Sale and the J&B Met, and the speed at which the social goings-on were taking place, made us oblivious to the fact that the World Economic Forum was in full swing in Davos. Sadly, and significantly for us, we even missed the death in relative infancy, of our ageless champion, Nhlavini. If you’re chalking up the great names of those that grew up here, he’d be up there with the best : we speak of St Pauls, Mowgli, Sentinel, Magic Mirror, Panjandrum, Dancing Duel, Imperial Despatch, Spook and Diesel, Pick Six, Igugu, Pierre Jourdan, Rebel King and Imbongi.

For that matter, the Markus and Ingrid Jooste’s colour bearer would’ve ranked with best anywhere. Apart from Pocket Power, he must be the only horse to have lined up six times for an Equus Award, where he walked away with the championship on three occasions as the nation’s leading sprinter, the last time at eight years of age. The Brits will tell you that the Zulus are feared for their exploits in battle, and Nhlavini (Zulu for “playboy”), would stand right alongside the warrior kings, Shaka and Cetewayo, as a racehorse.

A championship class campaigner by any standards, he got more than he would’ve anywhere else in the hands of Charles Sydney Laird. We use his name to emphasise his ancestory, as a clue to the expertise that made Nhlavini what he was. There was a sentimental attachment to the progeny of National Emblem in general in the Laird family, but nowhere was it stronger than it was with Nhlavini. Religiously, at the end of his winter campaigns in KwaZulu Natal, his trainer sent him home to his birthplace, where he occupied the sacred paddock which in the 60s, housed the multiple champion sire, Masham, in the shadow of the great eucalypts of Hartford House.

Rested, the brave soldier always returned to the fray, always faithful, always true. This was especially so in his latter years, when it seemed his heart was willing but his limbs could take no more. His master was always masterful, and it was a measure of his great respect for the great horse that in his latter years, there were only two races on the official calendar. The Diadem Stakes and the Cape Flying Championship, at six, seven and eight. His three consecutive Diadems and two Flying Championships (some still say three) tell us the respect was mutual. His harvest was three million and more.

His father’s tally at Summerhill alone included some fifteen Stakes winners, among a litany of Black type scorers, the best of them (Nhlavini, Rebel King, Carnadore, all champions, Decorated Hero, Princely Heir and Lotti), trained by Charles Laird, while top-liners, Fez (Gr1), Royal Emblem (Gr1) and Thekkady, were also inmates of our paddocks carrying the National Emblem hip- sticker on their backsides.

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

LOW FLYING CAPE FLYING CHAMPIONSHIP

Click above to watch JJ The Jet Plane’s last run in South Africa; The Mercury Sprint (Gr1) in July 2010
(Photo : Gold Circle - Footage : Tellytrack)

CAPE FLYING CHAMPIONSHIP (Grade 1)
Kenilworth, Turf, 1000m
21 January 2012

For as long as we can remember, the time-honoured Cape Flying Championship (Gr1) has been one of the better subscribed sprints in the land. That there are only six competitors for Saturday’s renewal would’ve been remarkable if it weren’t for the fact the line-up includes three current champions, the emerging rocket, What A Winter, the amazing filly Val Da Ra, and it marks the return of the globe-trotting international Group One hero, J J The Jet Plane. He hasn’t been seen on a South African course since July 2010, and that was at the end of an unbroken sequence of seven consecutive victories.

JJ of course, has a strong genetic connection with Summerhill and Hartford. His mother was a Stakes-winning daughter of the world record equalling broodmare sire, Northern Guest, our most famous resident, and she was bred here by Gordon Sigcau, brother to the reigning King of Pondoland, Mpondimbini Sigcau. The family traces to an old Hartford taproot, so this man’s prowess, up there with the best sprinters the country has known, is not surprising.

Equally unsurprising is the size of the field. Champions have always got something to prove when pitted together, but when at best, all the others are doing in the line-up is running for fourth place money, you may as well reserve your talents for other fish. Whatever the outcome though, the presence of these three champions guarantees purists one helluva contest.

For the record, Summerhill’s recent history in the event surpasses all-comers. In the course of the first decade of this millennium, graduates of these paddocks took the laurels three times (Nhlavini in 2005 and 2006, and Rebel King in 2009) while each of them were runners up in other years.

FINAL FIELD

#	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	J J THE JET PLANE	60.0	122	3	B Fayde’Herbe	Lucky Houdalakis
2	WHAT A WINTER	60.0	117	6	K Neisius	Mike Bass
3	COPPER PARADE	60.0	108	4	G Hatt	Joey Ramsden
4	CAPTAIN’S SECRET	60.0	107	5	M Byleveld	Mike Bass
5	RABATTACHE	60.0	107	2	R Fourie	Glen Puller
6	VAL DE RA	57.5	111	1	A Forbes	Dennis Drier

OF WAR ARTIST, REBEL KING AND UNCLE TOMMY

Rebel King
(Photo : Kerry Jack)

LIVING IN CLOVER

Those that watched Thursday evening’s big sprint in Dubai, will have noticed that Rupert Plersch’s War Artist came home smoking. This is not only great news for a long-time client of Summerhill, but it also franks the talents of a graduate of our paddocks. Rebel King was born into an “impossible” era of great sprinters in South Africa. As a son of National Emblem, he already had great shoes to fill from a Summerhill perspective, as he was the successor in the same yard (champion trainer Charles Laird’s) as the great Nhlavini, the only horse in history to line-up six consecutive years as an Equus Awards finalist.

As if that wasn’t enough, Rebel King also happened to arrive on the sprinting scene at a time when National Colour was blazing her trail, and the emergence of the spectacular Mythical Flight was taking shape. As if repelling these two horses was not already enough of a challenge, he came to the Natal Mercury Sprint (Gr.1) two seasons ago for yet another encounter with the odds-on Mythical Flight, at level weights over Clairwoods’ 1200m track.

At last, he came to conquer the horse that had beaten him in the Computaform Sprint (Gr.1) in Johannesburg, and having just got the job done, and with victory looking like it was in the bag, War Artist flashed up to beat him by a neck.

Of course, we know that War Artist has gone on to Group race glory in Europe during the past season, as well as running a narrow third in the Prix de ‘l Abbaye (Gr.1) Longchamp’s showcase for the best sprinters in Europe. Again, at Dubai’s Meydan Thursday evening, War Artist showed his mettle by lowering the colours of a strong field of sprinters, reminding us of his battles with Rebel King.

Very recently, our Bloodstock Manager, Kerry Jack, visited Rebel King at his new stallion home at the prestigious Klawervlei Stud (translated, literally, “clover vlei”). There’s hope in the Klawervlei quarter that he will be the successor to his own illustrious father, National Emblem.

Patronised by the owners of more than a hundred broodmares in his first season at stud, he’s an obvious hit, and a tribute to the horses graduating from our paddocks. His half-brother, Uncle Tommy, was 2009’s highest priced yearling at all sales in South Africa last year at R2,5 million, knocked down to the bid of Mike Bass acting on behalf of the doyen, Graham Beck.

CAN YOU HEAR THE DRUMS?

Hear The Drums with jockey Gerrit Schlechter, Amoret van Zyl and Des McLachlan
(Photo : Wally Strydom)

HEAR THE DRUMS IS 4 WINS AWAY FROM SA RECORD

Review by Racingweb:

Peter Fabricius’s star sprinter and money machine Hear The Drums equalled Sentinel’s 29 career wins with a victory in the R90 000 Glendore Sprint over 1000m at Arlington on Friday. There is a popular perception that 1970s star Sentinel held the South African record at 29 wins, but Form Bloodstock’s and aro.co.za’s Jehan Malherbe provided other facts (both, by the way, are graduates of our paddocks. We breed ‘em tough here! Editors note)

“The SA record is held by Screech Owl (1955 by Janus) who won 32 races. Riza (1951 by Djask) is next with 31 wins and only then comes Sentinel (1968 by No Reprieve) with 29 successes,” said Malherbe. He noted that his statistics included SA-breds only and excluded imported horses.

With no signs of wear and tear, Hear The Drums is well within reach of this record, which will be an astonishing achievement for horse and connections whether it is set in Pinnacle Plates and with conditions to suit him or not. The cherry on top, and not an unlikely event, will be if Hear The Drums can pull off the Grade 1 Cape Flying Championship at his third attempt in January. He finished fifth to O’Caesor in 2008 and fourth to Rebel King in 2009.

However close Hear The Drums gets to the title in the next few months, South African racing enthusiasts can be proud of the unimposing son of Gold Press, a treasured gift to long-serving owner Fabricius and testimony to the skills of his trainer Des McLachlan.

KZN BREEDERS AWARDS : OUT WITH A BANG

Click above to view photos from the KZN Breeders Awards Evening
(Photos : Gold Circle)

2009 KZN BREEDERS AWARDS

You might be forgiven for thinking that having the National Breeders’ title in your pocket for the fifth consecutive year, would dwarf anything else that came your way. But the truth is, KwaZulu-Natal is where we make our crust, and our local awards remain as important to us as anything, not only for the silverware we load up in the early hours of the following morning, but especially for the achievements of those around us. By that, we obviously include the people that live and work here, but importantly, we also mean our colleagues in the district.

It is so in so many respects, our fellow breeders are our competitors, yet in the brotherhood of racehorse breeding, and in the complex world of the many components that make up the game, they’re of necessity, also customers, and at the same time, good pals.

In the end, Summerhill laid its hands on seven pieces of silverware, and we were privileged to pick up stalwart supporter, Fenn Tarbitt’s award for the Middle Distance Horse of the Year, Surfin’ USA, as well.

Besides, we get such a kick from the applause that greets those that’ve benefited through their patronage of our stallions. Prestige Breeders made their way to the podium for the Champion Two-Year-Old Filly, Spring Clover (by Kahal), and Connington Stud for Champion Female Sprinter, Noble Heir (by Kahal).

For the record, our own awardees included :

Champion Sprinter	Rebel King
Champion Older Filly	Spring Garland
Champion Stayer	Desert Links
Champion International Performer	Imbongi
Champion Stallion	Kahal
Champion Older Horse	Rebel King
Breeder of the Year	Summerhill Stud

Summerhill wasn’t alone in these achievements. Deservedly, we were joined in the breeding of these horses by Gainsborough Stud (Desert Links), and for the Champion Older Filly (Spring Garland) and Champion International Performer, (Imbongi) by Dr Barry Clements of Perth.

The moral of the story is, stick around : if you want to be a champion, just join the champions!

 

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

or contact Linda Norval
+27 (0) 33 263 1081