Friday, August 3, 2012 The 2012 / 2013 Edition of the Summerhill Sires Film will be broadcast at 19h00 this Sunday on Tellytrack, DSTV channel 232. Don’t miss it!
Time : 19h00
Sunday 5 August 2012
Tellytrack, DSTV 232
Enquiries :
Heather Morkel 27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email heather@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 
Golden Sword and Greig Muir at the Al Maktoum School of Management Excellence
(Photo : Leigh Willson)
Continuing their policy of only standing stallions of quality racing class, South Africa’s Champion Breeders of the past seven consecutive seasons, Summerhill Stud, have acquired the 122 Timeform-rated son of High Chaparral, Golden Sword. While European racing fans will remember him for his consummate victory in one of the principal Derby trials, the Chester Vase (Gr.3), South Africans and those in the Gulf will recall his rattling finishes from behind in Dubai, where he ran the fastest 2000 metres ever, a record which still stands. It’s arguable though that Golden Sword’s finest moment came in the Investec Derby (Gr.1) at Epsom, where he was beaten a tad over two lengths by the world champion, Sea The Stars. With less than a furlong to go, Golden Sword looked to cause the upset of the decade, as he battled it out with Sea The Stars going to the line.
While it was expected when he first arrived at Coolmore that his dual Breeders’ Cup-winning sire High Chaparral, would bask in the shadow of his much-vaunted paternal half-brother, Galileo, the former’s career to date tells a vastly different story. With six Group One heroes in both hemispheres, High Chaparral became the first stallion since his own illustrious sire, Sadler’s Wells, to have that many winners at the highest level in his first year at stud. Any association with the progeny of High Chaparral immediately reminds us of So You Think, one of the world’s top-rated middle distance horses of last year, yet it’s a tribute to the class of Golden Sword that he is the next highest ranked among his sire’s stock. That he enjoyed the admiration of his champion trainer, Mike de Kock is evident: “Golden Sword was the best horse of a classy generation in my overseas string. At his best, he was a serious international competitor.”
Speaking from Summerhill, head stallion man of twenty-five years, Greig Muir, remarked “Golden Sword is a big, elegant horse much in the mould of So You Think, and provides breeders with a welcome source of one of the most valuable bloodlines in the world. We’re delighted to have ventured here with Drakenstein Stud, Wilgersbosdrift Stud, Moutonshoek and long-time Summerhill client, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum. In any other year, he might’ve been a Derby winner, and he would not have been in South Africa if that were the case.”
Enquiries :
Linda Norval 27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email linda@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za
Thursday, July 21, 2011 
Summerhill Sires Film 2011/2012
(Image : iKind Media)
The longest-serving Finance Minister in modern times was Peter Miller, whose portfolio in that capacity straddled two eras in South African history, the old and the new. He was as competent a minister as any we’ve known, and under his stewardship, racing in KwaZulu-Natal positively thrived. We have much to thank him for, and especially for the fact that he continues to serve in an advisory capacity in the province, where his experience as a politician stands him in fine stead, given the factional turmoil of recent times.
It’s a compliment then, to the Summerhill Sires Film, that the ex-Minister took the trouble to sms when he noticed our latest epic on Supersport 1 last Saturday. “I have just seen a piece on the new School Of Management Excellence on Supersport 1. It is a great tribute to what you fellows have done to foster the interests of the underprivileged, and an ongoing compliment to the standards you have set at Summerhill. Well done.” Rare praise from a rare man.
Remember, this edition of the Sires DVD is said to be an improvement on last year’s, which itself earned the plaudits at the Durban International Film Festival when it came on screen this time a year ago. If you haven’t seen it, it’ll be live on this blog 7AM Friday; make yourself a cup of tea and give yourself ten minutes. The technical quality of this movie has to be seen to be appreciated; it surpasses anything we’ve known in the horse business anywhere. Forgive the narrator, but he’s what the farm had to offer!
For more information please visit :
www.summerhill.co.za
Wednesday, November 24, 2010 
Forty Niner
(Photo : Sport Horse)
The Hancocks don’t make many mistakes. That’s why America’s Claiborne Farm retains its aura of invincibility. But even Seth Hancock will concede that when he succumbed to what appeared an irresistible Japanese offer for his Travers Stakes hero, Forty Niner, the decision turned out to be a bum.
The events in the USA the past weekend revived the great stallion’s ghost as all five of that country’s major Stakes winners carried the blood of Forty Niner in the male line, and amazingly, considering how long pedigree pundits cautioned against it, all five were inbred to Forty Niner’s own sire, Mr. Prospector.
“Mr.P’s”; own unsoundness at the races was the obvious alarm bell, but considering his enormous contribution to the enhancement of the breed and the general resilience of his and his descendant’s stock, the days duplicating Mr P’s blood looks like the original “no-brainer”. This season alone there have been some 27 major race winners in the US carrying multiple strains of Mr.P.
That we cottoned onto the “wisdom” some time back is evident in the overwhelming concentration of his blood in our own stallion band. All of Muhtafal, Kahal, Stronghold, Mullins Bay, Way West, A.P. Arrow, Admire Main, Brave Tin Soldier and Malhub carry his genes, which leaves only Solskjaer and Ravishing on the “outer”.
Yesterday’s piece on Trippi, resident of Gaynor Rupert’s Drakenstein Stud, highlighted the achievements of the 11-year old stallion who also hails from the same line and incredibly, ranks as we write as America’s third leading sire of juveniles behind the outstanding horses, More Than Ready and Indian Charlie.
Monday, June 21, 2010 
If you’re in any doubt about your choice of stallion, take a good look at the Leader Board. Summerhill’s sixth consecutive Breeders’ Championship is no coincidence. Fundamental in our journey to the “mountain top”, has been our steadfast belief in the Summerhill stallions.
To a man, they rank in the top 1% of racehorses of their respective generations. To a man, they have the strains of the best blood on earth coursing through their veins.
To a man, they could grace the paddocks of the best farms in the world.
| # | Stud | Stakes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SUMMERHILL STUD | 17,120,812 |
| 2 | NORMANDY STUD | 5,757,900 |
| 3 | LAMMERSKRAAL STUD | 5,729,550 |
| 4 | ASCOT STUD | 5,350,900 |
| 5 | HIGHLANDS | 5,344,062 |
| 6 | KLAWERVLEI | 5,304,300 |
| 7 | WILGERBOSDRIFT | 5,280,250 |
| 8 | MAINE CHANCE | 5,002,512 |
| 9 | AVONTUUR FARM | 4,690,650 |
| 10 | D COHEN & SONS | 4,663,362 |
Sporting Post 6 June 2010
For more information please visit :
www.summerhill.co.za
